Child Of Fire
by SGCbearcub
Summary: Jareth had asked her to say goodbye to her world. The problem was, the world Above was not quite ready to let her go.SEQUEL to Sharp Edge Of Dreams[JS]
1. Chapter 1

"Good Lord, Williams. You pregnant or something?"

Sarah ignored the awe-struck firefighter as she sank her teeth into her third bacon double-cheeseburger and chewed happily. Across the parking lot from the fire truck the sound of children shrieking and calliope music competed with the smell of corn dogs and cotton candy. She wasn't on duty for another twenty minutes and the BBQ set up near the rear of the truck smoked cheerfully as Dobbs threw another half-dozen burgers on the grill.

"Good burgers," she managed.

Roberts stared at the remains on her plate, then turned his head. "Hey Dobbs, grab another couple burgers. I think Williams is eating for two. Or six."

Eric Coleman snorted, then reconsidered the empty potato salad container in front of her. "Er...you're not are you?"

Sarah snorted.

"'Cause if you were...you know we'd have to shoot the bastard, right?" Eric continued.

Dobbs plunked a full plate of burgers on the picnic table and got his fingers out of the way before six hungry firefighters grabbed them by mistake.

"Ah, Eric. That's so sweet. I didn't know you cared," Dobbs cooed.

Eric grunted."Hah...guess who her alternate is in the competition this year."

Julian Neville paused in his triple burger construction and looked dismayed,"Oh crap. It's Sweeney."He glared at Eric,"You hold the bastard. I'll shoot him."

Sarah rolled her eyes,"Gee...it's so nice to be wanted." She eyed the last burger on the plate, then grabbed it, ignored the disbelieving looks around the picnic table. "You can relax. I'm not pregnant."

She grinned as Dobbs and Julian both gave exaggerated sighs of relief, but wondered with amusement if she told them that while she might not be pregnant, she was eating for two.

When Jareth had told her she had to build up extra mass, she had thought he meant add a few extra pounds. Ha. Try a few extra thousand. Dragons were no bloody lightweights. Luckily, the mass was stored out of phase with this dimension. When she was ready, she would simply swap bodies. Which gave her a headache trying to figure out, but sort of explained where Jareth's clothes went when he shifted.

"You ready?"

She glanced at Dobbs and nodded, swallowing the last of her burger. Bowing to Eric she smirked at his exaggerated grab for the last coleslaw container and grabbed her jacket. The summer sun was bright and hot, but she might want it later.

Dobbs was quiet as they strode across the parking lot. She eyed him with relief. Most of the station had volunteered to help at the fundraising fair and Roberts and the others were still inclined to ask questions about where she had been after she had disappeared from the hospital. Four hours in a first aid tent would give them lots of time to ask questions. Dobbs was as curious as the rest of them, but he was content to wait until she was ready to talk.

Truthfully, she was not sure going back to firefighting was what Jareth had intended when he told her to say good-bye to her world. Given the amount of money she had found mysteriously transferred into her bank account she rather thought not. She had worried at first, knowing how poor the Goblin Kingdom was supposed to be, but an emergency crystal to Jareth had just had him frowning impatiently.

"Gold has value in your world, my love. Not mine,"he'd said.

And that, apparently, had ended the matter.

In spite of her time Underground, she'd discovered a bare two weeks had passed Above by the time she returned. Not even enough time for her plants to die-although someone had watered them. She had left messages for her boss and her parents when Jiann smuggled her out of the hospital. Now, she was left with the uncomfortable fact she could not let anyone see her for at least a month. She might not have been critically injured, but her burns would have taken more than two weeks to heal.

Giving her boss a more formal request for time off, she had hurriedly updated her passport and gone traveling. In spite of the fact Jareth had said he would not press her, she had been surprised-and a bit disappointed- when he made no effort to contact her. England. Ireland. Wales. She had been disconcerted to feel nothing otherworldly at Stonehenge. Finally, she gave up looking for him and set herself to enjoying vacation.

She never taken the time to travel; now, she was determined to see it all. The Eiffel Tower and the Vatican. Ayers Rock and the Pyramids. The Great Wall of China. The tower was boring. The artwork of Rome was stunning-and the sheer amount of wealth that had built the city offended her. She learned to ride a camel and find water in the desert. She studied the aqueducts of history with interest, spent three weeks observing castle restoration in France, examined exotic gardening techniques from the Middle East, and let the monks of China describe the warfare strategies of seven thousand years of hill bandits and Mongol invaders.

Her visa to China expired a week after she joined a group of history students re-enacting a caravan journey along the silk trade route out of China. Walking into the embassy to file the necessary paperwork to complete the journey she was shocked to see that over a year of her life had disappeared. Just like that. She had more questions than ever, and the growing certainty that a lifetime would not be enough to learn all she had discovered she wanted to learn.

Jareth had been generous, but she had traveled as the winds took her and as the caravan finished the trip decided it was time to go home. Her boss had accepted her original request for a long-term medical leave of absence and all he wanted to know was whether she was fit for duty. A week after passing the medicals she was back at her old station and trying to feel her way back into a life that didn't quite fit the way she remembered it.

Three months later she was still trying.

Only a year had passed, but it might as well have been a lifetime. All her stuff had finally been unpacked from storage and the rooms of her new apartment gave her an odd feeling as she walked into them. As if she should recognize them as hers, but somehow came away with a vague feeling of nostalgia. It felt like she had walked into her old campus room and seen familiar walls and someone else's furniture.

Marking time was what she was doing. This life did not belong to her anymore, but she wasn't ready to let it go. Not today. She did not know what she was waiting for, but she had to hope she would recognize it when she saw it, because it wasn't time to leave this world behind.

Not yet.

She was about to ask Dobbs what he planned to do after the fair when a shadow moved in peripheral vision and her nostrils flared reflexively. She hesitated, staring blankly at the empty space between two carnival tents.

"Sarah?"

She held up a hand, sensing Dobbs looking back at her with concern. She shifted cautiously and stepped between the two tents, an odd scent teasing her nostrils and setting her teeth on edge. Barely, she bit back a growl and determined to come back and investigate when her shift was over. Jareth had informed her that there was a full Sidhe court centered in the New York area, but she had yet to meet any of the inhabitants. Other than the neck-prickling feeling someone was watching her, this was the closest she had gotten. She had begun to think she would have to get further into the country, away from the steel in the buildings in order to meet anyone vaguely fey.

She was turning back to Dobbs when the sound of a woman calling for her daughter caught their attention. Parents yelling for their children were not unusual, but it was the panicked note in her voice the firefighters recognized.

She had no logical reason to think the two things were connected. The girl had probably been located by security. No doubt she was kicking her heels back and forth in the first aid tents while security guards circulated her mother's name and description. Dragon reflexes didn't give a damn. She heard Dobbs shout behind her as she plunged into the maze of canvas and guy wires.

Fear and frustration. Skinned knees and candy apples. Sarah spun around as she caught the sharp scent of hungry triumph and the coppery tang of blood. A hint of decay and rotting flesh yanked at her attention and she jerked to a halt. Leather and dirt. Fear. Pain and terror. She was reaching for the object at her feet when the hiss of cloth warned her. Diving to her left she hauled her prize screaming into the air, the rank odor of its breath surprising her.

How had she missed smelling this?

Claws slashed at her face until she snarled and tightened her grip on the creature's throat. A blow from her free hand stunned it long enough for her to be certain the creature was alone. She shook the creature angrily. The girl's fear and blood-scent saturated the creature's skin and clothes.

"Where is she?" Sarah demanded.

Red eyes glared at her and the candy apple it had delayed to eat became a missile launched at her face. She did not even bother to duck. She simply let her eyes shift to silver and the sudden fear emanating from the creature was thick and satisfying on her tongue.

"Sarah? What are you...good god!"

She turned her head enough to see Dobbs come to a stunned halt ten feet away. He did not have a good angle on her eyes, but he had a clear view of the hobgoblin in her grip. Dobbs took a hesitant step forward, freezing when something crunched beneath his foot. He bent to pick the object up and when he straightened, his face was grim.

Fresh blood soaked the doll's dress and coated her plastic hair.

She tightened her grip on the hobgoblin.

"This thing helped steal the child and he's going to tell us where his friends took her."

The hobgoblin spit in her face."What traitor birthed you, half-blood?"it hissed with disgust.

Sarah stared at the hobgoblin expressionlessly, weighing the implications of that question. "No one," she said finally, curious to see how the creature would respond.

The hob snorted with contempt."Thinks I can't smell how close to the line you stand, half-blood?" It grinned maliciously."Did your father claim you, part-blood? We have your scent now. Lies won't save you..." It drew in a deep breath and Sarah smiled slowly when it froze.

Hobgoblin terror flowed like smooth wine.

"Let's begin this conversation again, shall we?' she said pleasantly, hearing an echo of Jareth's aristocratic distain in her own voice.

The creature hissed in spite of its fear."I don't bow to filth, Goblin slut. You don't rule here."

Sarah's smile went cold."What's your point?"

The creature screamed as his wrist broke with a dry-twig snap. Dobbs was panting shallowly behind her and when she looked at him he stared at her eyes with dawning horror.

"Sarah?" His voice was a quiet plea.

She forced the creature to the ground and glared at her partner."Hold it's arms."

The hobgoblin's eyes darted furiously as fear and hatred tried to choke her. Dobbs swallowed several times, then moved to comply. The bloody doll was laid gently on the ground beside the hobgoblin and Sarah saw Dobbs shudder when the creature eyed the drying blood and licked its lips. Almost, she thought Dobbs was going to be sick, then his eyes hardened and he gripped the hobgoblin securely.

He looked at her with a level gaze,"Now what?"

She stared at the hobgoblin and called her dagger to her. It materialized in her hand and Dobbs jerked once but otherwise did not move.

"Now it tells us where they took the girl."


	2. Chapter 2

"Let me call the others."

Sarah did not slow her pace, weaving through the cars in the parking lot. "And tell them what?"

Dobbs was silent.

The hobgoblin had a low pain threshold. Unfortunately, it was also faster than it looked, even injured. Dobbs lost his grip and the thing bit him. Sarah stumbled over Dobbs when the hobgoblin scrambled over him and now she was terrified what would happen if the hobgoblin got to the lair first.

Hobgoblins, it would seem, liked to eat their meals alive.

She had no idea how many people were trapped there, but she was certain they would all be dead before the police could be convinced to answer the 911. Neither were the police equipped to handle what they would find. Not without warning.

Dobbs grunted when she unlocked the trunk of her car and threw her turn-out gear at him. It had always been a bit big and Dobbs was built like Jareth. Tall, but slender. It might be a bit tight across the shoulders but it should protect him long enough to get to the girl. If they were lucky, the distinctive jacket and helmet would keep the girl from fighting him.

Trusting the do-not-look-at me spell Jareth had taught her, she stripped off her clothes and climbed into her armor. Dobbs would not be affected, and it would not work on the hobgoblins, but any humans not expecting to see her should see nothing unusual about her appearance. Dobbs had spun around when she started dropping her pants and now she saw his eyes widen when he turned back to look at her.

Whatever he planned to say was lost when he saw the sword.

"You drive," she told him, tossing him her keys.

Dobbs had grown up in New York. His father had driven taxi for twenty years and Dobbs had done the same until he became a firefighter. If there was a street he didn't know, they had yet to find it. She threw herself into the passenger seat and held on as he hit the gas.

She tried not to think about what she was about to do. She tried not to wonder if maybe they should call the police and tried not to think about the crystal in her apartment. By the time they got across town, assuming Jareth could help her, it would be too late.

She stared down at her sword and sincerely regretted not looking harder for someone to teach her how to use it. She had assumed Jareth would teach her and it had seemed counter-productive to learn something that would have to be unlearned a few months later.

Who used a sword in New York, anyways?

Dobbs was pale beside her and his hands were clenched so tightly on the steering wheel she could clearly see the bones of his knuckles. For the moment he was focused on the task at hand. They would rescue the girl first, but she would have to come up with something to tell him. She felt a stab of panic as she considered what this was likely to do to their working relationship.

She had no time to worry about it.

According to the hobgoblin, the lair was in a sub-basement that had been sealed off when the newest warehouse was built over top the old foundation. It had been cheaper to seal the basement than clear the site and pour a new foundation or pay for the repairs and venting that would be needed to bring the old basement up to code.

It was not the first time she and Dobbs had found themselves crawling around in old ventilation shafts, but it was the first time they had ever had to worry about more than fire or rats. Sarah led the way, nerves drawn tight as she waited for hobgoblins to boil out of the shadows. Metal flexed under their weight and eerie echoes reached them from the depths below them as they located one of the stairwells the hobgoblins had described.

Hobgoblins scent was strong and even Dobbs could smell them. He clutched the dagger she had given him, one of a set Jareth's grandfather had gifted her before she left Underground. It was weighted for throwing and he had smiled wryly as he pointed out there might be times she wanted a good disposable blade. At the moment, she would have settled for claws and a Beretta.

If the hobgoblins had arrived back with the girl, they had used a different entrance. Hobgoblin was rank and thick, but at least two days old. Nor did she smell fresh blood. The lack of guards was either a good sign they had beaten the bad guy back to the lair.

She refused to think about the alternative.

She could sense the land all around her, but it did not resonate with her. She was part of it, the same way any living creature was connected to it, but it had no interest in her and she sensed no outrage for the old blood soaking the stone. That worried her more than she wanted to admit. She could understand a lack of interest in one predator eating another, but even without being Earth she could feel the perverted delight in pain that poisoned the very air she was breathing.

Surely someone should have noticed.

Beneath her fear, the further into the land they descended, a small ember of outrage began to burn. She could not tell if it was her own emotion or dragon instinct but the tiny coal of fury was beginning to burn through the leash she had on her temper and she wondered how much trouble she would buy for Jareth if she burnt this whole stinking pit straight down to watershed.

She heard the victims before she smelled them. Small moans and tiny whimpers smothered in the throat, as if whoever was crying had learned not to attract attention. She had known what to expect but knowing was not the same as seeing. Peering through the ancient grate she felt a cry of revulsion try to force itself from her throat even as her stomach heaved.

At least two of the victims were children. Some were homeless people; the others were anonymous in their misery. All had fingers and toes severed at the first or second knuckle. Some were missing eyes and at least one hobgoblin was chewing on a human ear. Sarah clenched her fists as three giggling hobgoblins poked at a man missing his left leg to his knee, cackling as he screamed.

The bones blades on her arms fanned out.

As one, the three raised their heads and sniffed at the air. Before they could react, Sarah punched the grate to the floor and launched herself into the air with a shriek. People screamed and jerked at their chains while hobgoblins whirled with claws extended, red eyes blazing.

Her dragon roared, her fist smashing into bone. One swipe and blood sprayed the survivors as a hobgoblin head bounced across the floor. Sarah spun in place and grinned with feral satisfaction as she felt calf spines open leathery skin in one vicious swipe. Wounded hobgoblins screamed as their entrails joined the human feces and urine covering the floor.

Blades scraped harmlessly across her amour and hobgoblins scrambled away from her in terror as silver eyes glowed with evil intent. Fury burned brighter and Sarah laughed coldly as she felt her body wake up. Sound shivered off her skin. Human scent and hobgoblin separated, bodies located and identified. Motion shifted air currents and dragon reflex spun in a tight circle. Hobgoblin bodies fell even as bone blades missed brushed human victims and left them untouched.

The hobgoblins broke and for the exits.

The dragon roared and stone shattered. Hobgoblins screamed in fury and turned with hatred in their eyes. Knives twisted and several of them headed for their former victims, determined to deny Sarah a victory. Unable to reach them all in time to prevent a massacre, Sarah hesitated. The dragon acted.

She slammed her sword through the concrete at her feet, driving the point into the land beneath them. The land shuddered and the hobgoblins froze uncertainly as concrete trembled. The land around them had no interest in helping Sarah...but land knew land. Sending out a magical cry she was not prepared for the fury of the response as the Goblin Kingdom answered.

Using her sword and the land Above as a conduit the Goblin Kingdom slammed into her - and recoiled when it sensed the pain and malicious evil soaking the earth in human blood. Sarah screamed in denial and was answered by Despair. Inured to pain, Despair welcomed her, comforted her...and absorbed her cold fury. Her need informed Despair and land shuddered as Despair was reshaped. Ancient knowledge poured into her mind, and the newest Child of Fire threw back her head and laughed as she raised her hands.

Hobgoblins burst into flames, burning from the inside out.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey Williams, you hear we got ourselves a bone fide hero in our midst?"

Mike grinned and waved the station's morning paper. Sarah smiled, eyeing Dobbs with uncertainty. Things had been crazy after she crispy-crittered the hobgoblins. Dobbs had comforted the survivors and done what he could while she dug a way to the surface. Then it had been sick-faced police officers and grim-faced trauma teams and one hell of a long night.

Dobbs settled into a chair and avoided her eyes.

Bitterly she wondered if she would have to say good-bye to her old life after all. Could be it might just reject her first. She fixed herself a cup of Julian's coffee and stared blindly at the surface. Mike wandered out to inventory first aid supplies on the truck and Sarah was left alone with Dobbs. She took a careful breath and set her cup on the table.

"You okay?" she asked quietly.

He took a sip of coffee without looking up and nodded toward the discarded paper.

"You read that garbage?"

She shook her head."No."

"Wonderful piece of fiction," he said emotionlessly. When he looked up, his eyes were empty. "You want to tell me the real story?"

She poked at her coffee mug, then shrugged helplessly," I don't even know where to start."

He stared at her for a long moment." Are you human?" he asked finally.

She sighed," What makes someone human?"

Dobbs gave her an impatient look and she raised a hand.

"I know, I know. It's just...that's not as easy to answer as it should be." She hesitating, debating honesty. "I was born human," she said finally." I made some choices and now..." she spread her hands." I don't know what I am."

Champion. Goblin Queen-elect. Nominal lover of the Goblin King. New York firefighter. Yet did any of those things truly describe who she was?

Emerging dragon. Wanna-be swordswoman. Hopeless romantic. She might have tried to put away dreams, but there was a box of toys under her bed that included an old music box and a battered red book. She enjoyed lightening storms and sunsets over the desert. She called Despair to her and held it like a child and smiled as she burned her enemies to ash.

She thought she might even love the man she was going to marry.

Although she didn't understand him and hadn't seen him in almost eighteen months.

"I'm not evil,"she said finally." If that helps."

She wondered what he was remembering as he looked at her. The blood? Her laughter? Her triumph as she cleaved heads from leathery bodies and coldly ripped bone blades through flesh. Could she even begin to explain her sense of offense? The cold fury the perverted delight in pain and misery those Unseelie creatures had ignited. The desire...no, the _need_ to rip those lives from existence. She had no regret for what she had done.

Only that she had not done it sooner.

Dobbs met her clear-eyed gaze for a long moment, then nodded heavily. She tilted her head.

"Are we okay?"

Dobbs swallowed,"I don't know."

Sarah flinched and drew in a deep breath,"You want me to ask the Captain for a different work assignment?"

Did he still trust her enough to walk into the fire at her back?

Dobbs flexed his jaw for a moment, then shook his head slowly."Not yet."

She nodded shortly, not able to think of anything to say. Finally, when he didn't seem inclined to move,"Come over for coffee after you've had time to think about it. I'll tell you what I can."

"I'll think about it."

She walked out of the kitchen before either of them could say anything they would regret. If they were lucky, they'd get a couple fires so neither of them would have time to think. For all her anger with Jareth, her introduction to the world of the Underground had been fairly tame and beautiful in many ways.

For a moment anger sparked at Dobbs. She had done a good thing. Those hobgoblins had been the closest thing he was ever likely to meet to true evil. How dare he look at her with wariness in his eyes. What did he think she was going to do to him? Lop off his head?

She tried to remember if she had ever viewed Jareth with a similar wariness. Fear, yes. With good reason when he had held Toby. But she had feared what he had threatened to do. She had feared him only because of what he had threatened to do to her. She'd been enraged, frustrated, and aroused. Curious and annoyed. Amused, fascinated, and seduced. But always for what he did, not what he was.

Was this how mortals looked at him?

She wondered suddenly, if it had ever mattered to Jareth. Had he enjoyed the fact that fifteen-year-old Sarah had seen him as this exotic magical creature, fascinating _because_ of what he was? Never some immortal being forever out of human reach and understanding. It occurred to her that she had never thought of him as being out of reach. Just beyond her reach.

It was a sobering thought.

She could understand being a threat to someone's safety. But how was she supposed to react to being a threat to someone's peace of mind? It wasn't the first time it had happened to her. A female firefighter faced a certain amount of hostility - surprisingly, from women more than men. She had always found most men simply wanted to know the rules. It was the women who saw her as a threat. The new equality of the sexes. She was now the same sort of threat to her fellow women that her male colleagues had always been to their fellow man.

She had been a threat to someone's view of self within the world.

First time she had ever been the destruction of their view of that world.

She could only hope that Dobbs could resist the urge to shoot the messenger.

In the meantime, she had some world shaking to do of her own. The hobgoblin lair had been clear across town from her apartment. She was not going to waste time blaming herself, but the truth was, she had not gone out of her way to make herself known to the neighbors. She had spent a year trying to learn how to control her dragon reflexes, but maybe she had taken that control too far. Muzzled her dragon too completely.

There had to be more around her than she had noticed.

Maybe it was time for her dragon to teach her to hunt.


	4. Chapter 4

Three hours of concentrated sniffing and so far, the only thing she had discovered was the stray cat lurking in her back yard. A first floor corner apartment might be more vulnerable to thieves, but the risk was compensated by the small twenty by twenty plot of land she got to call her own. The six foot privacy fence the previous tenant had built was in good repair, and the cat had lounged across the top of it, watching warily. She had thought at first it was well fed, but when it stood at her cautious approach, she could see it was large boned, but skinny and battle-scarred.

She sacrificed a can of tuna in the name of future friendship and went hunting.

Several times, she thought she sensed someone in the shadows, but it was same neck-ruffling feeling she had been experiencing since she got back from the Underground over a year ago. She had spent the first few weeks convinced someone was watching her, but when she turned, no one was ever there. She had finally decided her dragon was paranoid, Jareth was spying on her, or she was going nuts. She got used to the sensation and forgot about it.

Now, she was beginning to wonder.

She had just about decided to call it a night when her dragon reacted. A small shadow shrieked as she grabbed it, and a hail of blows from sharp pointed boots slammed into her shins. Her armor absorbed most of the impact, but she was going to be bruised.

"Enough!" she snarled, shaking the body to get it's attention.

Feral eyes gleamed in the shadows, then all attack ceased and the boy hung limply in her grasp, glaring at her through a mop of tangled brown hair. Sarah eyed the boy cautiously. His clothes were modern human, ripped jeans and a t-shirt sporting the logo of some teenage pop band. They were clean, but from the threadbare feel of the fabric under her fingers, some of those patches were there for a reason beyond fashion. She lowered him until his feet could take his weight, but she didn't let go.

"I won't run," the boy muttered quietly.

Narrowing her eyes, Sarah released him. He took a quick step backward and balanced lightly on his toes. His body language screamed that he wanted to run, but true to his word, he didn't move.

"You want to tell me why you were following me?" Sarah asked mildly.

The boy twitched, then shoved his hand into one baggy pocket, fingering something inside. Sarah tensed as he reluctantly withdrew his hand, then frowned with puzzlement at the sight of a battered photograph clutched in careful fingers. The boy's hand was shaking when he stretched out his hand so she could see the picture. The boy was laughing with another child, a sister from the look of it, although it was hard to tell in the darkness. The boy looked at least three years younger in the photo.

"I...did you...I saw you last night," the boy mumbled. "They won't answer any questions over the phone."

He threw her an anguished pleading look Sarah didn't want to understand. Taking a deep breath, she took a closer look at the photograph. The girl's face was elfin...literally. Even the state of the photo couldn't hide the delicate features and the promise of adult beauty. Her spiky haircut made her look like any other punk teenager - but Sarah had no doubt if the girl let it grow, it would be as wild and tangled as Jareth's own. She glanced at the purely human texture of the boy in front of her.

"She wasn't there," Sarah said softly,"Not that I saw."

She wanted to apologize as a hopeless expression crossed the boy's face, but the insanity of apologizing for not finding someone in that hellhole wouldn't let her. The boy dropped his hand and stood staring blankly at the alley wall. Sarah stood quietly and wondered at the desperation that could have driven a child close enough to the hobgoblin lair for him to see her well enough to recognize her later. Sarah realized the child must have trailed her home last night. Thanks to Jareth's spell, no one had ever asked her name.

"Did you call all the hospitals?" Sarah asked finally.

The boy nodded, the hopeless expression getting deeper.

Sarah nodded briskly,"Okay, then. We'll just have to start with the police."

The boy's head jerked up, eyes wide. Sarah froze at the disbelief and dawning hope in his eyes, then she was left scrambling as the hope died and grief clouded his expression.

"They can't help,"the boy said dully,"No one can help."

Sarah sucked in a breath. "You think you know where she is," she accused.

The boy hunched his shoulders, scrubbing at his eyes furiously.

"Take me there," she ordered.

A wild expression entered his eyes, but he didn't argue. Sarah had to scramble to keep up with him as he darted for the fire escape and headed for the rooftop. Even as she followed him, she wondered what sort of place he was taking her if a hobgoblin lair could be considered the lesser of two evils. Leaping rooftops had never been her favorite part of the job, but her dragon lent her a new perspective. She found herself sailing easily across eight foot gaps that should have terrified her. When his pauses to run planks between rooftops began to slow them down, she let him run to the edge, then grabbed him under the arms and took him with her.

The boy was shaking by the time he came to a halt, but she rather thought it was pure adrenalin and hope, rather than fear. He pointed a trembling hand towards a modest brownstone. The building was one of several that had been converted to business use and several discrete signs in elegant lettering hung from most of the buildings. Doctors. Lawyers. Architects.

Sarah's nostrils flared as she caught a strange hint of human despair, muted and hard to track.

"That one," the boy said quietly, an ugly note in his tone.

She was still a rank amateur when it came to magic. Jiann and Jareth had showed her a few useful spells before she left. A kitchen toolkit of stuff they thought might be useful in the world Above. But even she could smell the magic surrounding the harmless looking brick townhouse. The harder she probed, the denser the layers of spells seemed to be, and she had no illusions she could beat whoever had laid those spells in a duel of magic.

Which left her with good old fashioned bad manners.

The boy squeaked as she strode to the door and pounded on it. He was right beside her though, albeit a bit more behind than beside. She couldn't blame him for that. She wished she could leave him behind entirely, but she might need him. The door opened to a women dressed in an elegant black velvet evening gown, and if it had not been for the wave of despair and misery - and wasn't it her week for it - that slapped her across the face, Sarah would have been certain she was in the wrong place.

"Yes?" the woman queried cautiously.

Sarah smiled pleasantly, letting her eyes bleed to silver." I'm here to pick up someone you grabbed by mistake."

The woman hesitated, then did exactly what Sarah had hoped she would do. Sidhe manners were so convenient at times. Of course, Jareth was probably going to kill her. Sarah stepped into the house and the boy darted past her. She wanted to curse as he disappeared down a dark hallway, but forced herself to smile as if she had no concerns in the world.

"He's mine," she said bluntly.

The woman glanced anxiously behind Sarah, then she shut the door." I believe there must be some misunderstanding."

Sarah let her dragon smile, and the woman shuddered. Jareth had sworn she emitted a feeling of cold menace when she did that and Sarah planned to take every advantage.

"Oh,"Sarah said, hearing Jareth in her head," there's definitely been a misunderstanding. One I am correcting."

Brass balls were only going to go so far. At some point, in-house security was going to show up. Sarah was not unwilling to shed blood, but if she kept relying on her dragon to get her out of trouble, eventually, they were both going to end up skinned.

The woman was getting her composure back." May I ask your name?"

"You may," Sarah replied politely.

Irritation crossed the woman's face when the silence stretched and Sarah regarded it with interest. Either the woman was rattled enough to drop her glamour - or she didn't have any. Sarah held out her right hand, the bone blades fanning out gently. The woman stared at her hand non-plussed by the human greeting. Then recognition followed by uncertainty flashed in her eyes.

Sarah grinned and dropped her hand.

"Evelyn...I was unaware we were expecting guests," a man drawled softly.

Sarah turned, prepared for the worst. Given the strength of the magic, she fully expected the man's glamour to be equally as powerful. It was worse than she thought. Except for a slight feeling of danger - and that might be dragon instinct more than magic - she could see no evidence of glamour at all. Simply a cold eldritch beauty that might actually have been real. Either his use of glamour was too subtle to sense...or he didn't need it.

Sarah eyed him with interest. If he was representative of his species, no wonder Jareth had been considered flawed. Still, she preferred her Goblin King. And beauty was a poor substitute for a soul. Elegant eyebrows rose over crystal blue eyes as he observed her armor with the offended dignity of a king discovering a fly in his soup.

"I don't believe we have been introduced," he drawled with exquisite care.

Sarah shrugged, "As long as you know who I am, I don't foresee a problem."

The man ceased smiling as she cheerfully ignored a half a dozen rules Jiann had painstakingly taught her and probably two dozen more she had not had time to learn. Deadly manners, these weapons of the Sidhe. Luckily she was just a rude Colonial with a sharp sword and silver eyes.

Oh...and a Champion ring on her finger.

Jareth had commented dryly that that fact would smooth over a host of insults. Given her rather confused status in the Underground, she doubted anyone Above cared much that she was likely to be the next Goblin Queen. But if they were anything like the High Court of the Inner Kingdoms, they cared about that ring. They cared a lot.

Before either of them could start pissing on the walls, a noise from the second floor caught everyone's attention and Sarah felt her muscles tense as the boy appeared at the top of the stairs, carefully helping a blonde girl in a pure white silk gown as she stumbled and barely managed to put one foot in front of the other.

The man raised his eyebrow with distain," This...this is what all the fuss is about?"

Sarah leveled a steady stare as the girl managed three steps before falling against the wall. Her brother clutched at her shoulders and pulled her upright.

"She is going with me," she said bluntly.

The man sighed mournfully," I really can't allow that. You see, worthless though she is, she does have one asset that is quite valuable..." he smiled maliciously." Once."

Sarah narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"You do not command here,"the man reminded her," and her bloodline makes no claim for her before the Court. So you see..." he spread his hands,"...I break no law with which a Champion might concern herself."

"You are breaking a host of human laws," Sarah stated coldly, an inner fury igniting at the thought any Sidhe Court might allow the sorts of abuses he was hinting were possible.

"Ah...but the human police do not concern themselves with me," the man said, a touch of laughter in his voice.

Sarah leaned forward," I have concerned myself."

The man's smile vanished and he regarded her icily. "You are a guest in this world. Do not forget that fact."

Sarah's dragon grinned. "I was born here. This is my world...and they are under my protection."

The man went still. "You claim the part-bloods?" he asked carefully, astonishment and something else twisting in his voice.

Sarah opened her mouth to agree, then hesitated. There was something in the way he was looking at her. Something that watched with anticipation. There was a trap, somewhere in those words. She forced herself to shrug lightly.

"I claim nothing more than the right anyone born of the mortal world has toward another. The right to defend. You break Sidhe law and you answer to your Queen. You break human law...and you'll answer to me." She grinned ferally,"I don't think you'll enjoy a cell barred with cold iron. Do you?"

Fury and cold hatred flashed in crystal blue, then faded to controlled malice. "You may find your King's patience with your - absence - from your duties, wilting in the face of my Queen's displeasure."

Sarah was certain she should probably be insulted on Jareth's behalf. She smiled instead. "Jareth indulges me shamefully," she said, deliberately waving the hand bearing the Champion ring in a vague, eye-catching gesture." But do feel free to discuss your opinion with him."

Her guess that his threat leaned on Court protocol rather than actual Sidhe law was rewarded when his mouth tightened angrily. She wished she knew whether she actually had any right to challenge him with human laws or if her status as guest protected her somewhat, but he made no move to stop either the boy or the girl as they reached the bottom of the stairs and staggered toward the front door.

His mouth straightened and his face took on an eerie expressionless cast that would have worried her less if she could have believed it was the result of glamour. Ignoring the disturbing transformation she waited until the children were safely out the front door before taking her eyes off the Sidhe lord studying her with a horrifying absence of emotion. The woman, Evelyn, was watching her with an odd look in her eyes. Two men she assumed to be bodyguards of some kind watched her with studied boredom. She could sense several bodies behind them hiding out of sight.

Luckily, none of them seemed inclined to attack...yet.

"I will not forget this," the lord said serenely.

Sarah stopped, her hand on the door. She looked at the cold beauty in front of her and considered various replies. In the end, she gave him a direct look.

"That would be wise," she agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

The children had vanished by the time she made her way back to the street. She could only hope they had a safe home to go to, but she had her doubts. She could track them, but she was worried she might lead anyone tracking her right to them. Instead, she made her way back to the rooftop she had started on and settled in to watch the house.

She had no doubt there was going to be some sort of reaction to what she had done here this night. She wasn't particularly worried about Jareth. She suspected her Goblin King had a short temper when it came to the abuse of children. Plus, he had the disposition of her Aunt Maude's pampered Persian, Felix. He might question his attractiveness to the Sidhe in general, but she had never met anyone more certain of his place in the world. A certainty her acceptance of his Champion ring had only deepened. Anyone tasking him about her actions was likely to find themselves taking the economy tour of the Bog of Stench.

She was more concerned about the implications of what the Sidhe lord had said.

That a Champion had the right to uphold Sidhe law in other Courts was something she had not realized. Especially given that she was Champion for a kingdom Underground, not Above. Until she talked to Jareth, however, she would have to assume that was a custom that could be revoked or challenged. She had gotten the impression that the Courts from Above and Underground were not exactly on speaking terms. She wasn't sure however, if that had resulted from the War of Destruction or from the closing of the Gates when the Sidhe fled Despair.

More disturbing was the lord's statement that an unclaimed child had no protection before the High Courts. She had a vague memory of Jareth talking about protocols between the Sidhe and the races of man. She had gotten the sense that Sidhe could be called to account for the abuse of mortals. She wondered now if part-bloods were falling through the cracks. Another question for Jareth. It occurred to her that the past week had generated a lot of questions for a man she had not spoken to in over a year.

The sun was peeking over the skyline when she finally decided it was safe to go home. No one had left by the front door and if anyone had left by the back, they had not circled around to pick up the children's scent. Satisfied they had had sufficient time to muddle their back trail she stretched and headed for home. She didn't bother to hide her own trail. Anyone who knew who she was, also knew enough to find her by more conventional means.

She was halfway to her bedroom when she caught the stranger's scent. Vision shifted to monochrome shades of grey as she drew her sword. Three steps toward the kitchen her nose twitched. Bread? Sarah paused, confused. Not that she was an expert but she rather thought it was against union rules for thieves to cook their victims' breakfast. Peering around the doorway she watched open-mouthed as a short woman with tangled black hair and a brown leather summer dress stood on a stool and punched and pounded at a huge bowl of dough. A bowl Sarah definitely did not recognize.

Two loaves of something that smelled sweet and nutty were cooling on the counter and Sarah's dragon appetite perked up and roared plaintively. A skillet of bacon sizzled on the stove and when Sarah craned her neck to peer upward; half-a-dozen fairies were attacking the ceiling fan in the dining room with dusting cloths. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, then shut it again, not certain she wanted to risk scaring them away.

She eyed the loaves on the counter hungrily.

"Food'll be ready in five minutes,"the woman said suddenly, not looking up from her dough.

The accent was vaguely Irish, but not quite and Sarah watched fascinated as the woman turned the dough onto the counter sliced it into efficient strips. Behind her, the knobs on the stove turned off under the bacon and a wooden spatula hovered by a second skillet as a plastic bowl tipped in an egg mixture. The woman ignored the self-cooking breakfast and started braiding the strips of raisin-studded dough into a treat Sarah vaguely remembered from childhood.

"You need supplies," the woman said briskly, popping the dough into the oven. A long list attached to the fridge separated from a magnet and threw itself at Sarah.

"If you don't have time to buy them yourself, leave the money on the table and I'll use the internet to have them delivered. I expect one gold piece every Friday and I'd prefer to have 24 hours notice if you wish to have a party."

Six slices of nutty bread buttered themselves, then laid themselves on a large plate with half a pound of bacon, a small mountain of scrambled eggs, and three hash browns. The plate flew to the table which had set itself while Sarah was drooling over the nut loaf. A large glass of orange juice floated out of the fridge and the woman started making what looked to be pancakes.

"Any questions?"the woman asked as her skillets efficiently cleaned themselves in the sink.

Sarah looked down at the plate of food, her nose twitching slightly. "No,"she said meekly. She sat down and picked up a slice of nutty loaf. Her dragon chewed happily. "You can use my computer to order the groceries if you like," Sarah offered.

The woman looked at her blankly as if she had never assumed differently and Sarah decided to shut up. By the time she was finished clearing her plate, the pancakes were done. For the first time since she started gorging, her appetite tapered off just as she was swallowing the last mouthful. Amazing, she thought, as she yawned. She'd stuffed her dragon sleepy.

The woman had disappeared after finishing the dishes in the sink, but as soon as Sarah laid her fork on the plate, it and her empty glass headed for the kitchen. She heard a soapy splash and shook her head. She still didn't know the woman's name, but was afraid to ask in case it was considered insulting.

Stumbling to her bedroom, she had just enough energy to note that the laundry in the corner was missing and carefully strip off her armor. If her new housekeeper was anything like Karen, boots on the bed were a killing offense. She crawled under the sheets, noting in passing that they smelled like violets. Given that it was unlikely the woman would wash her bedding if she intended to slit her throat, Sarah let herself drift off to sleep.

She also made a mental note to have some of Jareth's money converted into gold coins as soon as possible.


	6. Chapter 6

Rolling out of bed just past noon Sarah decided there were definite benefits to being a dragon. Barely four hours of sleep and she felt like bouncing off the walls. She discovered a stack of sandwiches in the fridge and absently munched as she stared wide-eyed at her apartment. She wasn't a slob, but she wasn't the housekeeper of the year Karen was either. If she couldn't see the dust, she generally ignored it.

The whole apartment just plain smelled clean.

Taking a deep breath she smelled nothing stronger than sunlight and violets - which was very wrong. Hunting her turn-out gear she located it in the front closet and stared at it contemplatively. She doubted it had glowed quite that brightly back when it was new. And the smoky smell that usually permeated the entire apartment was gone. Her armor hung beside the turn-out gear and her boots and sneakers were lined neatly beneath.

Chewing her sandwich she headed for the bedroom to locate her old credit card. She had new ones issued when she went traveling, but her old MasterCard was still in the fireproof safe she'd pushed under the bed. Weighing it in her hand, she finally shrugged. It dated back to her student days and only had a $500 credit limit. Probably safer than leaving cash. She dug out an envelope and scrawled 'supplies' across the front since she still didn't know the woman's name and tucked the card inside. She left it on the dining room table leaning against a vase filled with fresh flowers.

She had the next four days off and it was too early to go hunting. She flipped through a book on desert reclamation and another on macroeconomics, then dropped them with a sigh. She was not in the mood to read and a quick trip to the backyard was depressing. The garden was uninspired and the feel of the land beneath was muffled and distant. With an expression of disgust she grabbed her keys and headed for the nearest garden center.

Hitting the tool aisle she threw shovels, picks, a ph-tester, measuring tapes, and batten boards with string to mark sections off in the garden. Heading for the cash she was distracted by a stone fountain set up in the greenhouse. Real stone, not a plastic imitation, she stared at it contemplatively. It was small - barely three feet in diameter- and would be perfect for the patio as long as she scrapped any idea of patio furniture. Before she could second guess herself she waved over a saleswoman and arranged for delivery.

The white concrete patio was strong, but it was ugly as sin. She added a set of chisels, a book on basic masonry, a wheelbarrow, several bags of mortar and a blue-grey stone paving she thought would look nice covering the patio. She decided she would start there and work her way out to the rest of the garden later. She arranged to rent a portable concrete mixer and the manager swore it and nearly a ton of mortar and sand would be delivered within the hour. She ordered another two tons of granite and after calculating how much she could get done in a day, told them to deliver it the next afternoon.

The salesman ringing up her purchases exchanged an appalled glance with the stumbling manager who tried to explain it would take a lot longer than a day to lay the foundation for the wall she envisioned. She just nodded and ignored him. What was she going to say? He might even be right...but she didn't think so.

By the time she got home, the delivery van was just pulling in the parking lot. Directing them to unload everything just inside the privacy fence she glared at the patio. A single concrete block step let people step down from the living room and the patio itself was approximately twelve feet wide, eight feet deep. Realistically, it was intended for a BBQ and a patio set. Sarah shook her head and smiled grimly.

Not anymore.

Marking a line three feet from the edge of the patio on all three sides she used the shovel to cut into the grass, then rolled the surface like sod, revealing the dirt beneath. This, she had done before. Karen had gone on a gardening kick the summer after Sarah returned from the Labyrinth. She had to admit though, dragon strength made it a lot easier this time around. She dumped the sod in a corner of the yard and picked up the pick.

The first bite of the axe slammed into the earth and shattered a rock buried beneath. Sarah ignored the vibration as it shuddered up her wrists and let the physical exertion answer the demands of her body to move, to do something. Over and over she sliced into the earth, and the land ignored her. An hour of sweat and effort later she started shoveling loose earth into the wheelbarrow. As the sun climbed in the sky the pile of dirt in the far corner grew higher. By the time her new housekeeper poked her head out the door and announced dinner, Sarah had excavated a U-shaped trench three feet wide and two feet down around the perimeter of the patio.

Ignoring the fact she had not seen the woman enter the apartment, Sarah ducked in for a quick shower, then tucked into a huge plate of spaghetti and Caesar salad. She was pleased her muscles felt only slightly stretched. She had every intention of hunting tonight, but she'd known she was risking having to delay her plans if she had hurt too badly. Pleasantly surprised, she found her energy levels climbing quickly, the sleepiness of the morning somehow avoided. The afternoon's activity had smoothed out her twitchiness into a humming feeling of strength.

Her new housekeeper had provided a single name - Jenner - when Sarah asked, then commented blandly that she might want to consider roses for the fairies. Sarah had thanked her gravely and made a mental note to buy roses. She ducked into the bedroom to change back into her dirty clothes and when she came out, the dishes were washed and Jenner had vanished taking the credit card with her.

Odd woman.

Sarah shrugged and turned back to the garden. Another hour saw the last foot of the trench cleared. A thin layer of gravel was laid into the trench for drainage, then Sarah muscled the concrete mixer into place and spent a cheerful two hours hauling sand and mixing concrete. The bottom of the trench filled quickly, and Sarah had the complete footing poured by the time the last of the sunlight had disappeared. Startled, to be so far ahead of where she expected to be, she cleaned the mixer and contemplated the trench with pleasure.

Then she went hunting.

The feeling of being watched was stronger this time but she was unable to track anything useful. She was learning to trust her senses, but she didn't know what she was looking for. She did confirm that none of the people she had scented at the brownstone had been within a six block radius of her apartment. Several times she caught a hint of something that ruffled the hair at the back of her neck, but by the time she called a halt and wandered home, she hadn't caught a thing.

Her efforts in the garden plus her hunting caught up to her halfway through her breakfast and she barely made it into the bedroom before collapsing into unconsciousness. Four hours later though, she was up and racing for the garden, nary a bruised muscle in sight. She flexed her shoulders curiously as she munched on the sandwiches and homemade chocolate chip cookies Jenner had left for her.

Jareth had commented that adequate sleep would cure most minor injuries when her body had finished adapting to the magic. This was the first time she had noticed it though and she finally remembered something else he had mentioned, something about making sure she had sufficient quantities of protein in her stomach before sleeping.

Huh.

Looks like Jenner knew what she was doing. Which was a relief actually, because Sarah had begun to wonder if Jenner was spiking her breakfast. The near comas of the past two days had worried her.

Stretching her arms she considered how she was going to spend the morning. She had used a quick-mix, and the concrete footing was dry in the trench. She had also bought prefabricated panels to create the forms for the walls. She could have built it herself and saved some money, but she had wanted to get this done. She wasn't sure why it was so important considering she had the whole summer, but it was so she went with the prefab. Essentially, they formed a floorless box that rested inside the trench.

The box was eight inches smaller than the trench on all sides and the two 'L' shaped boxes would form the below ground level walls of her planters. When she poured concrete into the trench, the space between the trench and the box filled quickly, the centre remaining empty. She planned to plant shrubs inside and they needed earth down to frost level to survive the winter.

She completed the walls before the paving arrived. Looking for something else to do, she stared at the patio, playing with angles in her head. Something occurred to her and she grinned. Standing at the halfway mark along the side of the patio parallel to the apartment, she measured out four feet from the edge of the trench and marked the end of a new trench. Then she dug a three foot wide trench all the way to the left hand fence. By the time she was finished pouring the footing, the concrete around the patio had dried and the stone had arrived.

It was painstaking work, but not difficult and soothing at the same time. She found herself enjoying the smooth play of her muscles as she lift and mortared stone into place. By the time Jenner called her for a late supper she had completed a two-foot high granite planter around the entire patio, excepting a three foot gap at the left hand corner for an exit into the garden.

She ate supper staring at the corner of the dining room which now sported several vines crawling up the wall. Strategic wooden shelves seemed to be growing moss and it was a few moments before she realized each shelf held at least two sleeping fairies. The cat had relocated itself to her sofa and she noticed a bowl of milk on the floor in the kitchen. Swallowing the last of her supper, she decided not to complain. For all she knew, the cat belonged to Jenner.

The hunt was a frustrating repeat of the night before. Flashes and hints of things moving in the corner of her eye. Shadows that disappeared when she turned to look at them. Sounds and scents she couldn't pin down. She was beginning to think her efforts were a waste of time. Worse, when she went to track the children, she lost their scent in the subway. The only positive note was the fact she didn't have to worry about the Sidhe Court knocking on her door for what she had done at the brownstone. She had asked Jenner and the woman had stared at her for a long moment before answering.

"You made an enemy,"Jenner said briefly."But you were within your rights. Human laws are supposed to protect part-bloods, too."

Sarah had asked more questions, but Jenner had tightened her lips and would not answer further. Uncertain for the reason behind her reticence, but not wanting to push her if she didn't want to talk, Sarah figured she was safe enough that she didn't need to contact Jareth. She held the crystal he left her and the urge to talk to him was so strong she was shaking when she unwrapped her fingers for fear she'd shatter the magic. She wasn't even sure why she couldn't take that last step.

She just knew she wasn't ready yet.

Breakfast was spent frowning at the moss. The vines had thickened considerably, nearly covering the wall and the moss had started to creep across the floor. When she pointed this out to Jenner the woman just shrugged and said it would do no harm. Sarah blinked and pointed out she could still be sued by her insurance company for water damage and negligence. Jenner just shrugged again and repeated that no damage would occur.

Sarah decided it was easier to believe her.

She didn't collapse with quite the same single-mindedness, but she slept hard for four hours. Determined to use her last day off to finish her project, she spent two hours laying the blue-green paving stone over top the patio stone. With the patio already level and solid and the planters forming a firm boundary, it was easy- if hard on the knees. She completed the stand-alone planter while she waited for the mortar of the paving stones to dry.

Just in time.

The fountain arrived just after dinner and while the delivery guys got it unloaded and set up, she filled the patio planters with the last of the gravel, then a mixture of manure and the dirt from the trenches. A second truck delivered the shrubs she had ordered and it was short work to get them planted. She was racing the light to get the stand-alone planter filled and planted, but she did it. She stored her tools and wheelbarrow in a corner and stretched with satisfaction.

It was too dark to see if it had all turned out the way she hoped, but it felt right. It smelled right, and the cool evening air on her skin carried the scent of fresh earth and the bushes she had chosen.

She didn't find anything Unseelie while hunting, but for the first time, she spotted someone unusual. At first she thought the girl was an ordinary hooker. Too young, wearing too much make-up, the girl stood in the shadows as a man approached and said something to her. Sarah couldn't say what attracted her attention, but she watched as the man backed the girl into the alley behind the shadows. Sarah had one glimpse of features that weren't quite human, then the man was sagging to the ground as the girl quickly rifled his pockets.

He wasn't dead. Sarah could see his chest rise as she stepped closer. The girl looked up and froze as she met Sarah's eyes and measured how close she was standing. Sarah just watched with interest, but didn't interfere as the girl emptied the man's wallet. Frankly, given that the girl looked all of thirteen, Sarah would not have had a problem if he _was_ dead.

Served the bastard right.

The girl gave Sarah one last narrow-eyed look, then vanished into the alley. Sarah eyed the unconscious man and wondered how the child had done it. She didn't smell any blood. Finally she shrugged and walked away.

The sun was just coming up as she made her way out to the garden. Sarah had replaced the cheap sliding doors the first week she moved in. Now, she opened the french-style doors wide and admired her handiwork. Blue-green pavement was damp with dew, and bushes she had planted sparkled. Tall and skinny, she had planted them close enough to form a solid hedge - or they would when they were done filling in. Four feet high, they topped a two-foot mortared planter of granite and the old-fashioned construction looked sturdy and timeless. But where she had succeeded was the door. She grinned.

Nothing is as it seems.

Remembering a long ago doorway, she had constructed the stand-alone planter to fool the eye into thinking there was no exit. From the living room, the planter and hedges lined up perfectly with the patio planters, blocking the view of the garden and creating an optical illusion. Thus, this tiny replica of something that might have existed in the Labyrinth became an extension of the living room and the fountain burbling in the centre was just the right touch.

Sarah turned as Jenner came up behind her, eyes wide. She grinned.

"I think some moss would be a nice," Sarah said solemnly.

Jenner just nodded absently, her eyes on the winged dragon taking flight in the center of the fountain. Sarah left the water cycling through the fountain and ate her breakfast in the living room where she could watch the sun rise over her garden room. Then she yawned and staggered to bed.

Oddly, as she drifted off to sleep, she could have sworn she heard singing.


	7. Chapter 7

"You see the problem," Master Collins said with exasperation, stepping back and dropping the point of his sword.

Sarah blinked as a man stepped out of the shadows. She frowned at the previously shadow-free wall of the dojo. How did these people keep doing that? She sighed and studied the man staring at her with concentration.

"She's sloppy," the man said finally.

Master Collins grunted.

Sarah tightened her lips to prevent a retort. He was right. She was sloppy. Unfortunately, none of the sword masters she had discovered had been fast enough to train her. She had forcibly slowed her own reactions in order to practice the moves, but without a partner capable of dealing with her reaction time on reflex, everything was sloppy.

She had hoped to find a Sidhe trainer, but either they did not advertise, or they were staying away from her. She had just about given up when Master Collins called her. She eyed the new arrival with interest. He had enough magic to hide in the shadows. There was no way he was pure Sidhe, not with those features. But maybe he had the speed to deal with her dragon.

Before she could react, the man had drawn a sword and she was frantically parrying a flurry of blows. Her dragon reacted without permission and she found herself moving and darting with a speed she never would have shown voluntarily. Even so, her sword was smashed out of her hand and she found herself on her back with a sword point at her throat before she could think things through. Her dragon snarled.

"Control," the man warned softly.

Sarah glared, and throttled back on her dragon. The man waited a second more, as if to be certain she was under control, then he stepped back and watched her with a bland expression.

"Perhaps Trevor..." Master Collins said speculatively.

The man snorted," Not fast enough."

His expression altered swiftly to one of disgust and Sarah flinched with shock as he whacked her shoulder with the flat of his blade. "I said control, woman. Do you plan to spend the rest of your life giving the rest of us a headache?"

Sarah darted a furtive glance toward Master Collins as he smothered a smile. What the hell? Collins eyed the circling man with an innocent expression on his face.

"Hasting?" Master Collins suggested blandly.

The man rolled his eyes.

Sarah eyed him warily. She jumped when he whacked her shoulder again.

"What the hell is that for," she demanded angrily.

"You're lit up like a damn lighthouse. Lock it down," he snapped.

Sarah sat up and put her hands on her hips," That might make more sense if it made any sense!"

The man froze, then closed his eyes and groaned. Master Collins looked at him sympathetically but Sarah was certain she saw another smile lurking in his eyes.

"Gavin..." Master Collins began.

Gavin groaned again, then opened his eyes to glare at Collins. "You win," he grumbled." Sneaky bastard."

Collins grinned," Come on, it won't be so bad. You know you're the only one with close to her reaction time. Think of it as a chance to polish up your defenses."

Gavin glared," Like there's a shield alive that could deflect...that." He waved a hand in Sarah's direction.

Collins sighed." Yes, well...join the club. Most of the more sensitive left the city three months ago. The Queen is pissed as hell but what can she do? It was obvious after five minutes she wasn't doing it on purpose."

Gavin swung his sword with an angry gesture," What the hell was her King thinking?"

Sarah held herself motionless as she waited for Collins to answer. She was trying to forget how to breathe, hoping the men would keep talking. She had the feeling she might finally learn something. Collins glanced at her and smiled thinly.

"I think he was making a point," Collins said dryly.

Gavin grimaced," Yes, he would, wouldn't he?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes slightly as Gavin looked thoughtful.

"Not a bad one at that," Gavin murmured. His focus sharpened and Sarah found herself pinned by a very intense, green-eyed stare. She climbed to her feet cautiously.

"Get your things," Gavin told her bluntly.

"Why?" Sarah asked cautiously.

"Because you're coming with me. We should be in Arizona by morning."

Sarah gaped at him."Excuse me?"

Gavin sheathed his sword with an impatient gesture." You need to work on your shields. Badly. At least out there, all you'll blind will be rattlesnakes and scorpions."

"No."

Gavin blinked." Excuse me?"

Sarah set her feet," Thank-you very much for your offer, but I'll have to decline."

Gavin stared non-plussed, but Collins was standing extremely still, an odd look on his face.

"I have responsibilities here,"Sarah said firmly.

The flash of relief in Collins eyes startled her. Gavin spun to look at him and Collins shook his head.

"She threatened Belcraven,"Collins said flatly.

"What?"Gavin asked incredulously.

"Who?" Sarah asked, confused.

"Perverted shit with a taste for part-blood children,"Gavin snapped, then pinned Collins with a level stare. "Explain."

Collins shrugged,"I only know what everyone knows. She walked in wide open and walked out again without a scratch. Took a part-blood out with her, too."

Gavin shook his head in confusion,"She's strong, Dennis. But she's got no defenses to speak of. You could probably take her out right now."

Sarah blinked.

"Her King might be a bit perturbed if I tried,"Collins said dryly.

Gavin snorted. "He's half-blood, just like you or me."

Collins quirked a lip,"He's half-blood all right. But he's not like you or me."

Gavin waved a dismissive hand,"He's land-bonded."

Sarah eyed him with concern. She wasn't sure she trusted anyone who shrugged off the Goblin Kingdom so casually. At the very least, it wasn't bright. She was also wondering why any of these people cared. Then she paused, remembering Despair. Looks like the world Above was just as concerned with the gatekeeper as the Inner Kingdoms.

"He's land-bonded,"Collins agreed,"and he's still stronger than we thought. Rumor is, she's as powerful as she is because he bound the Labyrinth to equality."

Gavin's jaw dropped,"The land agreed?" Then his voice deepened with outrage,"He took such a risk?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes again, this time in warning. Collins glanced at her, his own eyes widening when he saw her expression, but Gavin ignored her. He was staring into space thoughtfully. He refocused with startling speed.

"As powerful as she is? And he's Air?" Gavin asked abruptly.

"Child of Air," Collins agreed.

Gavin smiled slowly," No wonder Belcraven let his part-blood go."

Collins shifted unhappily.

Gavin sighed,"For the love of...what?"

"That Champion ring doesn't come off,"Collins explained in a rapid rush.

Sarah glanced down at her ring in surprise. What the hell was he talking about? Of course it came off. It would have made it extremely difficult to remove her gloves if it didn't. In fact, the ring was extremely accommodating, expanding and contracting to fit bare flesh as easily as armor.

She looked up to find Gavin glaring at Collins who was wincing apologetically.

"She's land-bonded as well,"Gavin said flatly.

Sarah snorted and rolled her eyes as both men turned toward her. "Very,"she said bluntly.

Gavin moaned and brought both hands to his forehead. "The man is a fool. Land-bonded Champion."He glared at Sarah,"What the hell was he thinking?"

Sarah's dragon snarled slightly and she felt her eyes flicker briefly to silver. Rage ignited, accompanied by a disgust so strong she wanted to lash out, raking claws and drawing blood.

"How dare you," she said softly.

The Goblin Kingdom stirred sleepily and stretched toward her. Not awake. Not yet. Just curious...and watchful.

"How dare you,"Sarah said again, when both men just watched her silently. Contempt iced the edges of her words." You...and all the others like you. You play in this world and do not even fight your own monsters...yet you feel you have the right to condemn Jareth for doing what needed to be done?"

The land beneath her feet shifted unhappily as Goblin land reached for her.

Collins sucked in a breath and went pale, but Gavin just stared at her coldly,"Parlour tricks can't hide the fact he could have destroyed both our worlds."

Sarah raked him head to foot with a scathing look,"I don't see you riding the edges of Despair," she said bitterly. Her anger grew. Men like these could have helped Jareth. Instead, they had left him to fight alone.

"Not my war, Princess,"Gavin stated bluntly.

Sarah stretched a hand out and twisted her fingers into Despair. It cried, weeping in happiness. Smiling in anger. Lost until she gave it temporary form, and beneath it all, a sweeping unending hunger that sucked at the very fabric of her soul. She laughed and grabbed the men before her, swept up their consciousness and held them firmly in her fingers - then thrust her hand into the heart of Despair.

Collins screamed, high and mindless. Gavin fell to his knees, vomiting. Sarah yanked her hand back, stripping the last of Despair as it struggled to cling to their souls. She soothed the magic as it cried like a lost child and promised she would come back soon. Then she pulled herself into the world Above and released her captives.

"It's everybody's war,"she said starkly.

She turned on one heel and strode for the door. She was reaching for the handle when she heard Gavin cough.

"Wait..."he said raggedly.

Sarah paused, but did not turn back.

"Please,"Gavin said, his voice gaining strength.

She considered whether she was angry enough to make them regret that request. Probably not, but she was still leery of her own fury. Monochrome grey danced rapidly with color. Finally she sighed and turned around. Gavin was weaving on his feet. Collins was on his knees staring sightlessly at the floor.

"I thought it would be evil,"Collins whispered.

Sarah let the muscles in her back relax."What was done to it was evil," she said evenly. "It just wants to come home."

Collins laughed a bit wildly.

Gavin waved his head and cleared the mess on the floor. Then he bowed carefully. "Perhaps I misjudged the situation,"he said roughly. "We had heard that he wove the dreams of a mortal because he was not strong enough to hold the defenses himself. Our view of the Goblin Kingdom has always been...contentious."

Sarah wanted to answer hotly but bit back the words before she could say something she would regret. There were shadows in Gavin's voice, hints of things she might not know about. Jareth himself had said he abetted public opinion about his lack of ability. Sarah debated how much she should reveal, then reconsidered in the light of the fact that Gavin was still the only sword master she had found who was both fast enough and willing to teach her.

She was also worried about what he had said about her magical defenses.

"Jareth wanted a Child of Fire,"she began.

"Naturally,"Collins murmured. Gavin shot him a look, but said nothing. Sarah wondered at the wry humor in Collins's voice.

She shrugged,"The land and the Labyrinth got together to get him one."

Collins gaped at her.

"The land and the Labyrinth..."Gavin intoned too evenly.

Sarah frowned," I think the Labyrinth was the brains of the operation. Land is pushy, but it doesn't do much advance planning, if you know what I mean."

Collins looked at Gavin."Pushy," he said faintly.

Gavin ignored him.

She hesitated, then decided they didn't need to know about the Mirror Blade spell, or Jareth's fear he would destroy her if he didn't let her grow up on her own. Nor did they need to know about the erotic dreams the land had sent, trying to lure her back to the Goblin Kingdom and its king.

"Jareth didn't know the land had plans for me - he just thought to take advantage of the fact the Labyrinth had tricked me into wishing my brother away. He didn't know I'd be a dragon either. He found out about it the same time we thought I'd lost the challenge of Kingship and Dynasty. He wanted to bind me to the Goblin Kingdom. That's why..." she held up her hand and displayed the Champion ring.

Both men looked at her hand, then Collins coughed uncertainly,"Sarah...don't take this the wrong way, but even land-bonded Champions don't...you shouldn't have been able to rouse the Goblin Kingdom from across the Barrier."

Sarah flushed, uncertain how to explain the next part. "Yeah, that's a long story. Let's just say the land got pushy, I went feral, and Jareth got in the way."

Gavin blinked."Feral? What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

Sarah blushed.

Collins opened his mouth, then shook his head with confusion."Lovers don't...I mean..." His voice trailed off helplessly.

She sighed and cursed a culture that thought nothing of plastering her personal life across the magical equivalent of the front pages. "I told you,"she said evenly,"The land got pushy."

Collins and Gavin looked at each other, then Gavin licked his lips.

"Sarah, are you trying to say you wear the Goblin Crown?"he asked carefully.

She blinked,"Of course not."

Collins sighed with relief.

"Jareth says it's mine if I want it, though."

Sarah flinched with shock as both men exploded. For a moment all she could hear was Gavin cursing alphabetically. Collins was calling Jareth every name she had ever heard and a few she thought he invented on the spot. Finally, she lost her temper.

"Enough!"she yelled.

Both men cut themselves off and glared.

"Good god, it's not like it was a secret. Everyone in the Inner Kingdoms knew. Sheesh," she said exasperated.

Gavin drew in a deep, careful breath."Sarah,"he said through clenched teeth,"I assure you, no one had any idea that Jareth was willing to see you twice-bonded. Do you understand that your ties to the land are as strong as Jareth's own?"

Sarah frowned,"Of course."

Collins threw up his hands."Of course she says. Yea gods."

Sarah scowled at him."What does it matter as long as the land has no objections?"

Gavin rolled his eyes,"Sarah. Dear child. The point is that the land has no objections. The point is that you are a Child of Fire and your King is a Child of Air. The point is that the Goblin Kingdom is so aware of you it leaps to your service across the Great Barrier." His voice continued to gain volume."The point is that the defacto Queen of the Goblin Kingdom - the Goblin Kingdom no less - wanders about saving part-bloods entirely unacknowledged and unprotected,"he finished, the echoes of his final roar bouncing off the walls.

"Torching hobgoblins,"Collins added.

"Torching...?"Gavin checked and groaned.

"The Goblin Kingdom,"Collins pointed out with horrified fascination.

"Yes,"Gavin snapped,"I got that part."

Sarah eyed them impatiently,"You folks really have to get over your issues about the Goblin Kingdom."

Collins stared at her with disbeleif,"We're half-bloods."

"So?"

"We...you...we..."Collins sputtered."You're the Goblin Queen!"

"Not yet,"Sarah snapped back.

"She doesn't have a clue what you're talking about, Dennis,"Gavin said finally, and expression of stunned disbelief on his face.

"How can she not..."Collins caught sight of her face and shut his mouth with a snap.

"Sarah,"Gavin said with careful patience,"the politics between Above and Underground are complicated at the best of times. But the Goblin Kingdom...,"he shook his head."The Goblin King is the boogeyman, the threat all part-bloods grow up hearing."

Collins raised his voice in a childish falsetto,"Be careful half-blood or your family might just wish you away." He sighed,"I suppose it was better than being killed outright,"he said darkly.

Sarah stared open-mouthed."Are you saying that Jareth's job is to take unwanted part-bloods?"Her voice almost squeaked with disbelief.

Gavin smiled thinly,"The Upper Kingdoms needed a place to send their unwanted.The Labyrinth was the failsafe. It's always been that way- although recently the Goblin Kingdom has benefited from our dreams and our magical abilities-no matter how diluted. "He slanted an angry smile in her direction."How it must have burned when the Kingdoms realized that it was part-blood dreams that kept the Labyrinth from falling during the War. All those ties to the mortal world."

"And you're running around saving part-bloods," Collins added.

Sarah stared at them blankly and tried to wrap her brain around the politics of the situation. She didn't have a clue where to begin. She tilted her head.

"Oops?"

Gavin snorted.

Sarah frowned thoughtfully."I guess that's why Belcraven asked if I claimed the part-bloods."

"I think we can assume you said no,"Gavin said dryly.

Sarah raised an eyebrow and Collins sighed.

"If you had, we wouldn't be here,"Gavin said succinctly."Any of us. I suspect your King would have been a bit annoyed with you when several thousand part-bloods appeared in his castle."

"Several thousand?"Sarah asked faintly.

Collins tilted his head."By now? At least. Probably closer to several hundred thousand if you include all the Upper Kingdoms. I doubt the magic would pick up anyone further than four generations from the bloodline."

"They'd starve,"Sarah realized with horror.

"You think Belcraven would care?"Gavin asked cynically.

"He doesn't know about the land, though,"Sarah protested.

Collins shook his head,"Champion or Queen - you have the right."

She could understand why Jareth had not told her about the history of the Kingdom. There had been other things to say - and she suspected he might just think ignorance a better shield than advice. Still...

She sighed and drew her sword.

"Maybe you better teach me how to fight,"she said grimly.


	8. Chapter 8

Two weeks later, she was still trying to sort out the ramifications of all her actions. Gavin and Dennis had both agreed - reluctantly - that technically she wasn't the Goblin Queen. However, they made it clear that whether she ever wore the crown or not, when people found out she was twice-bonded, they were going to act like she did. Apparently, the crown was window dressing. The fact that the land itself had chosen her seemed to clinch the matter for both her self-appointed advisors.

Politically, both men warned her to keep her double binding a secret. They had a harder time trying to explain the difference between Champion and Queen. She still wasn't certain there was any practical difference, but she was getting the feeling it was a matter of perception. Not surprising, she had thought sourly, given the number of centuries the Sidhe had to complicate their lives.

As far as she could determine, a modern Champion, especially a land-bonded one, derived her status from her oathbound lord. She was his voice, and stood for him, but possessed no political standing of her own. A Queen was something else again. Once accepted by the land, a spouse possessed a title and political power in her own right. Family ties and existing alliances became political factors, unlike with a Champion who essentially placed her oath before all other relationships.

Neither a Champion nor spouse possessed the same level of contact with the land, but Sarah's double-binding made her as dangerous as Jareth. Plus, her oath as Champion made her loyalties clear. Any way she looked at it, it made her an unequivocal ally of the Goblin King in a world that preferred double-dealing. That was both a strength and danger. Most of Jareth's enemies would not even bother trying to seduce her with standard games.

They'd just try to kill her.

Sarah had sighed when she discovered that added risk. To be honest, she thought that was a minor risk since she would eventually go back to the Goblin Kingdom - and it was currently separated from the Inner Kingdoms. But it was a risk she could not completely ignore and she paid close attention to Gavin's lessons.

There was also another - unexpected -factor to consider.

Most Champions were bound by word, not magic. They were a pale imitation of a land-bound Champion, and true Champions were rare, given the level of trust required. Beyond that however, even the land-bound only echoed what they had once been. It was an old position. Very old. So old that most people forgot that Champions were originally chosen by the land. Champions, originally, were the judgment and sword of the land.

Sarah had spent several minutes trying to sort out how this was different from the King or Queen when Collins pointed out quietly that the King was the voice of the people to the land. He stood between the people and the land. It was also his responsibility to stand between the High Court and the Champion.

Gavin had smiled grimly as he told her that long before the War of Destruction, the Monarch had indeed been married to his or her Champion. And Champion was not another word for bodyguard. It was an ancient, almost forgotten partnership, lost in time. But the land had a long memory. When Jareth finally revealed that the land had chosen her, a lot of people were going to remember that fact.

Sarah wondered if Jareth had known.

She rather thought he did.

Sarah had spent more than one evening staring blindly at her fountain and thought about possibilities. Oddly, the balanced partnership Gavin had described felt...right. She had not regretted swearing the oath she did and she would have honored it to the best of her ability in any form Jareth had given it. But...

This felt right.

She couldn't ignore the symbolism either. Jareth, her perfect complement emotionally and magically. Balanced in the center of Air the same way she was balanced in Fire. A voice for the people and a voice for the land. Perhaps this was always what the Goblin Kingdom had needed to reach Despair. Jareth was obligated to block it from the people. She was free to touch it and give it the outlet it lacked. She could buffer Jareth from Despair, he would buffer the people from her.

"Sarah?"

She jerked herself upright and waved briefly at Julian. He gave her a concerned look which she shrugged away. Dobbs cut the siren and pulled the truck to a halt. Sarah peered out the window at the office building and tightened her lips. The fourth and fifth floors were already spilling smoke from broken windows and she could only hope any cleaning crews had already evacuated using the stairs. Even as Mike double-checked the gauges on her rig the lights in the building flickered and went out.

"Power's cut at the main, all elevators locked at the bottom" Julian confirmed.

Well, that was a blessing. She didn't like pulling people out of elevators. Damn shafts acted like bloody chimneys. Dobbs whacked her on the shoulder and she lifted her share of the hose.

"We're on four," Dobbs said.

She headed for the stairs, giving brief mental thanks for the fact Dobbs had seemed to come to terms with whatever he saw that afternoon. They never spoke of it, and sometimes she saw him watching her with an odd contemplative look in his eyes, but on the job, nothing had changed. They were halfway to level three when the land beneath her gave a shriek of terror and fury, and slammed into her.

Sarah gasped, losing control of her body temporarily. The edges of the stairs bit into her shins and she felt her shoulder protest as she fell on it awkwardly.

"Sarah?"

She had a glimpse of her partner's worried eyes, then the land slammed into her again, demand and fury hauling her to her feet. She stumbled again, saved from another fall only by Dobbs's sudden grab for her arm.

"I..."

She shuddered as the land screamed. Before Dobbs could stop her, she shook off his hand and started running up the stairs.

"Jesus Sarah, we're on four. What are you doing?"

She couldn't answer him. Her body was only partially her own. In the part of her brain still belonging to Sarah Williams, she noted when Dobbs stopped to hook his hose into the y-connect at level three. Then he was chasing after her, his breath audible in her ears. She passed four and slammed to a halt at five. In her head she could feel the flames roaring beyond the door.

The land shook her until her teeth rattled, determined to send her through the door, but she swung hard and knocked it backwards. Coldly she evaluated the chances of surviving the inferno on the other side. It was hot, but only half the floor was burning. Several office doors were closed and there were pockets of coolness behind them. She sent mental fingers questing into the walls and down to the floor below.

She did not have long.

Dobbs grabbed her arm when she reached for the door.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded, his voice terrified.

The land snarled, then hunkered watchfully when her dragon snarled back. It was only a temporary truce and cold purpose through the bones of the building sunk into the ground below.

"There's someone inside,"she said shortly.

He started to protest, then clenched his teeth. "Fine." He toggled his radio, relaying their position to the Captain. Sarah ignored his explanation that Sarah had heard someone calling. The floor was heating too fast for comfort and the land was starting to panic. Dobbs cursed as she lost control and wrenched open the door.

The influx of fresh air fanned the flames and fire exploded from several doors, curling along the walls and crawling across the ceiling. Water slammed it back and Sarah felt the hunger of the flames in her very being. Ignoring the feeling, she led them into the inferno. She could sense Dobbs behind her, a grim and angry force as she shut doors, trapping fire within. She wasn't searching. Even if the land had let her, she didn't need to. There was no one inside.

They were halfway down the hall when they ran out of hose.

"Sarah...we need to wait for back up,"Dobbs yelled, ignoring the mike.

She looked at him helplessly."I can't."

His expression altered and his eyes widened as she dropped the hose. He lunged for her faster than she expected and he dug his hands into her wrists.

"No."

She tried to shrug him off but he was a rat terrier when he wanted to be and she refused to hurt him. The land howled.

"Let me go."

Dobbs tightened his desperate grip. "No."

Sarah tried to shake him loose as the fire beneath them began to roar. Dobbs tried to drag her backward and the land shifted its attention with lethal intent. Sarah widened her eyes as it gathered to strike. She hammered at its resolve, tried to reach the Goblin kingdom. Tried for Despair. She was completely cut off and helpless as it struck.

In slow motion, Sarah felt her dragon leap inside her, swallowing the energy and redirecting it into something she understood intrinsically. Pain and fire lashed at her and she screamed as she sucked the fire toward her, then sent it roaring down the hallway to explode harmlessly into air as it shattered the wall at the end of the hallway.

In the sudden eerie silence, she could hear the distant sound of sirens wailing, and water falling. Dobbs was frozen in disbelief. Slowly, he unwrapped one hand as she stood shaking against him and she saw him pull off a glove and touch the wall beside them. She already knew the fire was dead. Cold. Robbed of the very energy that gave it life. Dobbs turned his head, looking for an explanation.

"It hurts,"she said plaintively.

Then she passed out.


	9. Chapter 9

"This is foolish,"Gavin said flatly.

"Just get me to the car,"Sarah ordered.

Collins shook his head and handed her a set of clothes,"He's not talking about walking out of the hospital you know. That fire was arson."

Sarah pulled on her jeans and agreed grimly. It had most definitely been arson. It had also been attempted murder. The twenty-year-old daughter of the owner of the building had been tied up and unconscious with her three-year-old son in one of those rooms on level five. She was fully human - and she was Earth.

"The land wants me to protect her,"Sarah said simply.

Gavin muttered something about telling the land to go to hell and she wished she could comply. Luckily the physical damage had been mostly healed once Gavin had snuck in one of Jenner's breakfasts. Her bones still burned and her muscles quivered at odd times, but she was almost back to normal. Unfortunately, the land seemed to have woken itself up and it was not her land. It cared little for her health as long as she was well enough to do what it wanted.

The Goblin Kingdom was not amused.

She had felt a soothing touch wrapping itself protectively around her as she slept and her land had snarled at the Upper Kingdom when it came sniffing around, hoping to prod her into action. Sarah had been grateful for the respite, but she had also understood it was temporary. Goblin land was not happy, but it was immediately clear that as Champion, her services could be claimed by land not her own.

She wished she could heal her relationship with Dobbs as easily as her body. He had not been by to visit, although from the way the others acted, he had not said anything. He'd told everyone she got blown into a wall when the fire exploded. As for the fire itself, uneasy opinion was an offsetting explosion that blew the fire out.

Everyone carefully avoided the fact that the physical evidence showed nothing of the sort.

Miracles happened and no one wanted to question this one. Even the insurance investigators were torn between trying to figure out what happened and simply being thankful it hadn't been more expensive.

"What are you supposed to do? She's human,"Gavin said, not for the first time."She probably doesn't even know what she is."

"You want to argue with the land, be my guest."Sarah responded, also not for the first time.

Truthfully, she had no idea what she was going to do. Her only real option was to eliminate the threat - and this was not some Unseelie beast where she could just lop off its head. She found it vaguely ironic that the land should throw her at a human problem just when she was getting her magical feet firmly on the ground.

Gavin had been merciless, twisting her nearly inside out until she was not only aware of her own psychic matrix, she was uncomfortably aware of those belonging to everyone else. She'd been even more uncomfortable when he pointed out that Sidhe died from psychic damage more often than physical damage.

It was Dennis who explained that her dragon shift form was not actually a physical body stored in an extra-dimensional closet somewhere. Both it and her human body were patterns held within her psychic matrix. The strength of her matrix, and the amount of energy it could hold were primarily responsible for the strength of her magic.

It was also why the Sidhe did not age.

Sidhe could not shift until they were physically mature. That first shift locked the pattern into the matrix and it was that pattern the magic used to rebuild her body. It also explained her fast healing. She was actually shifting, magically rebuilding her body as she slept. It was why she could not do it until the matrix the Labyrinth had grafted onto her had finished integrating itself into her body. It explained her hunger and why ingestion of needed proteins sent her into a coma. Her body was instinctively repairing itself.

Gavin had assured her she would have more control as she learned to handle her matrix. He had been grim as he pointed out that serious physical damage was echoed in her matrix, a psychic bruise as it were. It was why more serious injuries took longer to repair, the matrix needing to be healed first. It was also why Sidhe attacks were always accompanied by physic attacks designed to tear the matrix.

All those times she had felt her dragon as a separate identity was simply her mind accessing the dragon pattern without physically shifting. Some of her dragon reflexes were permanently shared with her human shift form. The others were borrowed temporarily. Sarah was still wrapping her head around the fact that her human body was no longer precisely human. It was now a human shift form.

"But couldn't you get confused about which one you are?" Sarah had asked." What happens if I forget I'm not actually a dragon?"

Gavin had shrugged," You'll shift."

Sarah had been startled, then realized that was partly what was happening when her eyes went silver.

The fact the land had its own matrix also explained why spells worked the way they did. Sarah had bashed her head against that understanding for almost a week. She just couldn't wrap her mind around why the words were even needed. It was just energy, right? So the words were just window dressing.

Right?

Gavin had looked amused and challenged her to set the don't-look-at-me spell without using the words. She'd spent two hours trying before giving up and glaring at him disgruntled. It wasn't that she was upset to be wrong - it was just that it should have worked. She could feel that it should have worked. Dennis had looked mildly impressed and Gavin had stared at her for a long moment, as if choosing his words carefully.

In the end, she was half right.

A mage using her own power and with full knowledge of how the processes she was trying to affect worked could indeed weave a spell using her own energy. She could create to her heart's delight limited only by her magical strength, her reservoir of energy, and the laws of physics. Although, Dennis had commented, the laws were not necessarily the ones taught in school. The restrictions however were obvious: her spells stopped working the minute she left the area, she might lack a certain understanding of the processes involved, or more energy might be needed that she could expend at that time.

The first problem, assuming the spell was one that was supposed to follow her could be solved by weaving it into her psychic matrix. Like a computer program, the spell told her matrix what to do. That left her free to concentrate on other things. It was a drain on her personal energies however, which was why mages had learned to weave the spells into the matrix of the land.

It was also, Gavin said dryly, why they used a dead Sidhe language to create spells. Living languages changed meanings and spells whose words shifted meaning had a nasty habit of exploding unpredictably. So, the land itself executed the spells. Small ones requiring little energy - or which had energy collectors built into them - were reliable. Larger spells, ones requiring more energy or more complex executions might or might not work depending on whether the spell conflicted with the other demands on the land.

The spells of the land-bound were given priority by their land.

Since the spells themselves told the land what to do, mages could use a memorized spell to do something they did not understand or which needed to work when they were not around. It was why Sidhe divided magic into two categories: learned and elemental. Learned spells were those that could be used by anyone although they still had to be practiced. Spells might be standard, but it had to be woven into the land matrix. That required knowledge of how the results of the spell would affect the land as it executed. Like anything, the more the mage knew, the more effective the spell could be woven.

Elemental magic was the magic built into a person's psychic matrix. It operated on the level of instinct and did not need to be learned. Since it was instinctual, it drew on a person's psychic matrix for power and sensitivity and was limited by the same. Also, the more complicated the spell, the more understanding of the processes involved to get it to work. At the most advanced level, there was little practical difference between learned and elemental magic.

Sarah's connection to the land gave her several advantages. The land could provide her with energy to support her elemental magic. The deeper melding with the land usually meant she had a deeper intuitive understanding about how her spells would affect the land-thus her weaving of learned spells were more likely to succeed. Something completely separate from the fact the land was less likely to kill her spells in the event of a conflict. Lastly, the land could trigger responses and draw forth knowledge buried in her matrix.

That was how Despair had shown her how to burn the hobgoblins.

It also explained why she would have a natural affinity for fire-based spells. The knowledge to use them was hard-wired into her psychic matrix. Most people learned a handful of useful spells and relied on elemental magic for everything else. Thus, the obsession with a person's magical nature. Philosophy aside, when two natures complimented each other, intrinsic understanding worked to assist each other, each mage carrying a different part of the spell, but working in harmony rather than at cross purposes.

She would always work well with any of Air, reasonably well with Earth, and not well at all with Water. Each element had its close and near compliment, and every mage balanced best with the person exactly one-quarter around the circle in the direction of their close compliment. The Children of each element, being perfectly balanced between both compliments had the broadest intrinsic understanding of how the two elements flanking affected their particular elemental magic. They were the stronger elemental magicians.

Of all pairings, the partnership with the most explosive potential was a Child of Fire paired with a Child of Air.

Gavin was Air, Dennis was Earth, although neither were Children of their particular element. It was far too early in her studies for her to be doing any magic that required another mage. In fact, mostly she had been learning how to shield and protect her matrix. But she could sense their potential, like a candle burning and seen from the corner of her eye. However, she had also sensed how easy it would be to burn someone out, flood their matrix with energy they could not handle and Gavin had confirmed soberly that someone like her would need to be very careful when working with mages of lesser power. A burn out lost more than their magic, they lost their ability to shift, and with it their ability to heal themselves.

A Sidhe with a destroyed matrix aged like a mortal and died just as rapidly.

Which brought her back to human mages. They possessed a psychic matrix that allowed them to perform magic, but they possessed only one shift form. Without the ability to shift, they could not shift from a damaged shift form to the undamaged pattern. As a result, they aged normally. In fact, technically, if she prevented herself from shift healing, she would age the same way, at least until she shifted. She had asked if a shift pattern could be grafted into their matrix, but Gavin had commented only that it was extremely dangerous and actually more difficult than what the Labyrinth had done for her. Easier to build a matrix from scratch than rebuild an existing one.

Most who tried had torn their matrices beyond repair.

Sarah believed him, but she made a mental note to corner Jareth on the subject. She couldn't help wondering how many human mages had destroyed themselves trying to copy something they could see clearly in the Sidhe but lacked the understanding to replicate. It had to be an insane piece of magic and where would they get the training? Especially if they were used to elemental magic rather than the learned kind.

Sarah sighed and turned her attention back to the world around her. Gavin had slowed his truck as they crossed into Chinatown and she viewed the colorful decorations and sidewalk markets with interest. She had never worked in this part of town and off hand, could not recall ever visiting.

"Hope they speak English, 'cause I don't speak Chinese,"Gavin muttered.

"I do,"Sarah admitted.

Actually, she spoke quite a few languages by now. She had understood the mere-dragon because of her nature, but for reasons of its own, the magic of Kingship and Dynasty had chosen languages as her gift for passing the test of Wisdom. She still wasn't certain if she was actually getting a new language downloaded into her brain every time she heard a new one or if the land was acting as a real time translator, but the result was that she only had to hear a few sentences and she became fluent. It worked on writing samples too.

She also acquired a rough sense of cultural connotation, but she had to think about those carefully. It was easier to let that understanding filter through when she was reading rather that speaking, but the longer she spoke the language, the easier it got. She knew she was drawing on the land for that knowledge and was looking forward to exploring her gift in more detail now that she knew somewhat how it was operating.

Jareth had commented enviously that it was a useful gift, but he had not been unhappy with his own. In terms of her new understanding of magic, she supposed what he had gotten was a toolkit of multi-purpose spells for working with water and the elemental understanding needed to use them. Since that understanding had to be grafted directly into his matrix, she thought-again-that rebuilding matrices could be done safely as long as the builder knew what they were doing.

It took them almost an hour to get in to see her quarry. The man was a real estate developer and the attempt on the lives of his daughter and grandson had rightly scared him. The private guards in the lobby of the building containing his family's apartments were armed and not normal security. Sarah was forced to tell him she was the firefighter who found his daughter (stretching the truth just a little-Dobbs found her after Sarah passed out) and she had information vital to her safety.

Finally, seated in his office, she found herself at a loss for words. It had quickly become apparent he had no magical abilities himself and she wasn't sure if he was aware of his daughter's gift. Hell, the daughter herself might not be aware of it. She eyed the bodyguard standing against the wall and debated what to say first.

"Were you aware your daughter called for help the night she was left to burn?"

She cursed her own bluntness when the man flinched. Gavin had found his name for her. Donald Chan was a self-made millionaire and his company had holdings across the city. He was wealthy, but if that office building had burned, it could have ruined him. Whoever had torched the building had been done with warnings. They had meant to destroy him, leaving him alive to understand the full extent of the wreckage that used to be his life.

He leaned forward," She called you?"

Sarah shook her head slightly," Not exactly."

Her heart sank when he simply looked puzzled and impatient. No hint at all that he even understood his daughter might have been capable of anything unusual.

"Mr. Chan..."she said hesitantly," your daughter is still in danger and the ...person... she contacted asked me to ensure that the danger went away. Permanently."

Chan sat back in his chair and regarded her silently, an inscrutable expression on his face. She had no doubt he was weighing her words, trying to fit them into a pattern he understood. By all accounts he was an excellent business person.

He glanced at the bodyguard and tipped his head toward the door.

The bodyguard went. Unhappily, but he went. Chan fixed her with a steady stare.

"How much?" he asked bluntly.

Sarah shook her head," From you? Nothing. My time is not for sale. Let's just say I owe a debt and leave it at that."

An expression of confusion briefly crossed Chan's face, but he seemed willing to let it go. Realistically, he had to. If he asked, he no longer had the protection of deniability. Finally he nodded slightly.

"What do you want from me?"

"Information,"Sarah said promptly.

Chan toyed with his pen for a long moment, then his mouth twisted unhappily. Without a word he opened a drawer and pulled out a thick folder. Even from where she was sitting, Sarah could tell it was stuffed with photocopies. She supposed the original was in a fireproof safe somewhere.

He handed her the folder.

There was nothing else she could say without implicating him in a crime. She stood, handing the folder to Gavin who had remained quietly at her shoulder. Dennis would be wondering where they were, but they had wanted someone watching the front of the building. She headed for the door.

"Thank-you,"Chan said softly.

She turned and smiled. "For what, Mr. Chan?"


	10. Chapter 10

"This is insane,"Gavin muttered.

"You say that a lot,"Sarah replied quietly, refocusing her binoculars on the building across the street. Stretched out on her stomach on the rooftop of an old warehouse, she eyed the sky and hoped it would not rain.

"That's because I know what I'm talking about,"Gavin retorted.

Sarah grinned, but did not move. Gavin was a veritable fountain of information, she had discovered. Nor, she suspected, was this the first building he had studied with malicious intent. He was just a bit too confident with the steps involved.

"It's the damn Triad, Sarah. Chinese mafia. Big, bad, and ugly,"he advised.

Yes, and if she hadn't been a dragon she would have had second, third, and fourth thoughts about what she was about to do. Then she would have checked herself voluntarily into an insane asylum. However, she discovered that the ability to do magic gave one a slightly different perspective on things.

The problem was one of resources.

She could not take on the Triad. She'd have to kill all of them. She couldn't justify that kind of risk - and it would be a risk. Dragon or no, she could be shot. She'd also be at it for the next two lifetimes. Unfortunately, she was fairly certain that at some point she might run into more Earth mages. Given Chinese culture, she would not be surprised to find a large percentage of them in Chinatown. If she didn't want to be dangling forever on the wrong end of a land-held beeper, she had to eliminate the problem. So...how to arrange a truce with a criminal organization without getting herself killed?

She was going to play the dragon.

Danny Voh was a mid-level flunky. He had worked his way up from eighteen-year old pimp and drug runner and was known for leaving corpses with missing body parts. Law enforcement knew he had his fists wrapped around several leashes, but witnesses tended to end up dead. He preyed on the newly emigrated who still had family back in China. The problem was, Danny-boy was ambitious. He was far too aware of the opinions of the boys holding his leash and Sarah didn't think he was the sort to deal.

Danny-boy was about to become dinner.

She would have preferred to turn them all into shish kebob, but as long as middle class kids kept buying heroin and blue-collar dads paid $20 bucks for a lap dance, the Triad would reap the crops Vietnam had sown. Unlike their American counterparts, the Triad was usually careful not to scare the suburban townsfolk. As long as the bodies didn't end up in the local playground, everyone thought it was a Chinese problem. They were wrong, but everyone kept blaming gangland violence on the guns.

Danny Voh could have told them it was about the money.

Danny also had a Harvard-educated lieutenant who was just as ruthless, but less likely to leave a blood trail. Sarah was gambling Donald Chan's investigators had it right and Danny's bosses were grooming Jeremy Khoi as a possible replacement. Sarah wasn't certain if he was watchdog or just redundancy in case Danny took a bullet in the head. Either way, she figured the best way to get her message to Danny's bosses was to get to Jeremy.

Her bone blades fanned out as she wrapped herself in shadows and slipped up to the front door. She had used a slight touch of don't-look-at-me on her face. Her dragon armor was recognizable, as were her eyes, but Gavin assured her it would make her face disturbingly hard to look at. At Sarah's nod, Gavin cracked the alarm system and they ghosted their way into the warehouse. Sarah wondered again just what Gavin did for a living when five minutes later he appeared at her side wiping blood from his knife.

She doubted the guards would be problem.

She didn't knock on the office door. Gavin took up a position to the side and laid his hand on the door. At his nod she drew a deep breath and walked through the door. There was a slight resistance, like jello, then she was through with a small pop. Two guards lost their heads - literally. Danny and Jeremy both watched the blood drip slowly from her bone blades and ignored the heads rolling across the floor. Sarah fought the urge to snarl.

Just another day at the office.

A balding man the file folder had identified as an accountant stared at her with wide eyes. She let her eyes bleed silver when his hand inched toward his lap and she shook her head. His hand stopped moving. She met Danny's narrowed eyes until she felt Gavin's shields settle over the office. Another twist and his spell to keep the air fresh was set.

Sarah smiled toothily, shadows dancing across her body, giving her a slightly smoky appearance.

"You have 30 days to negotiate," she said blandly.

The spell she had spent the last two days practicing unraveled itself cleanly and an old-fashioned parchment rolled and bound with silk cord appeared on the desk before them. Danny glanced at it; Jeremy never took his eyes off Sarah. Raising her hands she let the energy she had gathered explode outward. Gavin was prepared and the energy passed harmlessly through his shields, shattering the walls of the office. They weren't totally destroyed, just torn enough for them to have a front-row view of what was about to happen.

The energy rolled over the floor and triggered several spell-equivalents of a fire grenade that Gavin had tossed across the warehouse. Danny and Jeremy both came to their feet as bright flashes washed the color from the walls, leaving hungry flame in their wake. Danny's face was set and hard, his eyes hard marbles of anger that would have terrified her if she hadn't trusted the magic. Instead, her dragon snarled in reply.

"I wouldn't advise leaving this room," she said softly.

Then she wrapped shadow completely around her and stepped back through the door and protective shields. Gavin passed his hand over the door and she felt it seal in place. She nodded approvingly. No sense in setting up the play only to have the audience panic. She and Gavin raced for the doors leaving her audience to watch as the building burn down around them.


	11. Chapter 11

The limo had been parked down the street for a good half an hour.

Sarah yawned and settled more comfortably on the planter edge. Flipping a page of her paperback she eyed the limo and smiled. Danny-boy was not a happy camper these days. She and Gavin had stayed all night holding a larger version of the do-not-look-at me around the warehouse. As a result, no one called the fire department, and no one even noticed it had burned. Not until three soot-covered men staggered from the smoldering ruins.

Sarah had not expected an immediate response to her opening gambit and was not surprised when no one called the cell phone number Gavin had acquired for her. Handing her a Pay As You Go minute card he had muttered something about drug dealers and disposable phones. She'd rolled her eyes and moved to stage two.

Picking one of Danny's more profitable businesses, a massage parlor that fronted a prostitution enterprise and housed high-stakes gambling in the back room, she set up camp. She's gotten several strange looks when people noticed her armor, but most were too busy trying not to be noticed to make an issue of it. Keeping her features smudged she pretended to read as she wove a dread field around the massage parlor.

Dread, as Gavin called it, ruffled the neck and generally made one feel increasingly paranoid and hunted the longer one was within its range. It really was an elegant piece of magic, Sarah thought with admiration. Gavin had just snorted and asked what she thought she did when she glared at people. Dragons, it would seem, could manufacture dread and cold menace by reflex.

Subtle as it was, it worked. It worked really well with people who had other reasons to look over their shoulders. Within an hour, the house had been as dead as the proverbial ghost town. The employees held out another three hours, then gave up. Two hours after that, Danny-boy made his first attempt on her life.

She didn't ask what Gavin did with the bodies.

More disturbing had been the two police officers he sent to arrest her. She knew the actual percentage of dirty cops compared the numbers of honest officers was relatively low, but it was still upsetting. They kept asking her for ID and her fury at this perversion of authority broke free. She had glared and wished with all her heart she had the right to wish them away. Before she could follow that thought, the wind had stilled, then both officers vanished with a pop.

Gavin had slithered to a stop beside her before she managed to get her mouth closed.

She stared at him with dazed disbeleif,"Did you do that?"

He shook his head, then narrowed his eyes and asked what she had been thinking. When she admitted to wishing them an up close and personal with the Bog of Stench he started laughing. When he stopped snickering, he patted her on the top of the head, oblivious to her scowl.

"Told you that you were the Goblin Queen."

Nor was Danny the only one to notice her activities. Ever since the fire she had felt the land slowing turning its attention toward her. For now, it was an itch at the back of her head, a curious presence that watched her stalking with a feeling of gathering anticipation. She also felt it poking around her brain when she and Gavin went hunting and she let it feel the full brunt of her anger and disgust for the Unseelie creatures running rampant through the city.

She had been advertising her presence across half the city and learning to hide her psychic presence brought immediate results. She was still hunting things that knew how to hide themselves, but suddenly the city was far more populated than she could ever have suspected. Gavin and Dennis took turns showing her how to hunt and she discovered that part of the problem was mismanagement. Pockets of diseased land curled in on themselves like abscesses, cut off from the healthy matrix in a form of psychic amputation.

She had not had a chance to repeat her attack on the hobgoblin lair, but she was cutting her teeth on a large rat-like creature that was particularly hard to track, but was deadly in numbers. They were incredibly sensitive to psychic signatures, and when she finally managed to sneak up on one, she knew she was making progress.

The land was still largely disinterested in her activities - outside anything she was doing to protect the Earth mages, but it had condescended to drawing her attention to particularly diseased areas. It wasn't happy about it, recoiling reflexively from the churning infection, and she got the feeling it was perfectly happy to leave it in the hands of a Champion.

Sarah figured it was progress.

"Look alive, Sarah," Gavin said in her ear." I think this is it."

Sarah glanced up casually and saw Gavin move into a better position across the street. The tiny earpiece was another one of those pieces of equipment Gavin seemed to consider an everyday item. He had admitted he could have done the same with magic, but the earpiece was easier. Without knowing what would come at -or when - he had not wanted to risk any unnecessary draw on their energy levels.

The limo rolled to a quiet stop and a bodyguard climbed out of the front passenger seat and opened the door courteously.

"Mr. Khoi was wondering if you would be willing to discuss recent matters," the man said politely.

Wryly, Sarah considered that he would probably be just as courteous when he put a bullet in the back of someone's head. Making sure her shields were in place, she triggered another handy little spell Dennis had woven into her personal matrix. Essentially, it rendered any weapon relying on gunpowder useless five seconds after it came within reach of the field. Sarah had every intention of avoiding relying on its effectiveness, but it was reassuring nonetheless.

Gavin had used a nastier version to destroy an entire shipment of automatic weapons two nights ago.

She climbed into the limo and sat in the centre of the empty seat. Jeremy was watching her calmly, a deceptively mild expression on his face. Sarah wondered if he was acting on his own or on orders from above. An empty bawdy house was an annoyance. The arms shipment was a step up the food chain.

"It is a hot day, today. Would you care for some water?" he asked politely, accepted an unopened bottle of water from the bodyguard sitting next to him.

She hated games like these. Heads, she was a boorish Colonial too unsophisticated to know the rules. Tails, she was an idiot. Luckily Gavin had anticipated the question and had provided her with an ingenuously Sidhe solution. Smiling, she held out both hands. Jeremy blinked, then handed over his bottle of water and nodded to the bodyguard. A second bottle was placed in her empty hand.

A twist of a thought later, color cascaded over the bottles in Tinkerbelle sparkles. If the bottles contained anything other than water the sparks would have glowed red. They stayed a beautiful golden hue and as they faded, the outside of the bottle was coated in a light covering of frost. She heard the bodyguard suck in a breath and smelled fear scent climb. Surprisingly, Jeremy seemed unperturbed and he accepted his own bottle with a tiny smile.

She probed cautiously but did not sense a psychic matrix.

Sipping the water gave her something to do while she waited for him to speak. The limo accelerated smoothly into traffic and she wondered where they were going. Jeremy raised an eyebrow.

"I believe you wished to negotiate," he said, voice touched with polite curiosity.

Sarah leaned back and gazed at him coolly," Who is asking?"

His return smile was cold," Someone with the ear of very...powerful...people."

Sarah inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Did you bring the parchment?"

Jeremy's smile thinned," As requested."

Sarah met his gaze steadily," Unroll it."

His hesitation was barely perceptible. Then he turned his head toward the bodyguard who reached for the briefcase on the floor at his feet. He handed the parchment to his boss. Graceful fingers flicked the silk cord loose and Jeremy unrolled the parchment. She watched as his entire body stilled and she knew Gavin's remote pen spell had worked. Dennis had used the spelled pen last night to inscribe two names in an elegant hand. Jeremy looked up, eyes flat.

"The names that will appear on that list belong to a very select group. A group with a very powerful protector. These people are not to be harmed. Their families are not to be harmed. Failure to comply will have...consequenses,"Sarah said evenly.

This time, even she heard the menace in her own voice.

The bodyguard looked at her eyes and shuddered slightly.

Jeremy's mouth tightened," That sounds more like an ultimatum than a negotiation."

Sarah did not reply.

Jeremy read the names again and sighed."Chan."He grimaced."Sloppy."

Sarah said nothing.

"And if, for the sake of argument, something were to happen to these people," Jeremy said politely," what would the consequences be?"

The land stirred and before she could stop herself, she heard herself reply, a strange double echo to her voice.

"Every building built by the clan of the guilty will return to the land, every field will grow as if strewn with salt. Your nets will return empty, your boats will be swallowed by the sea, beasts of burden and women of clay will be barren as stone. Fire will claim your flesh, wind will cast your ashes wide, and water will wash the land clean."

The bodyguard was staring at her incredulously, but Jeremy had paled. He might not have a psychic matrix, but he believed her. How surprising.

He licked his lips carefully," It would appear we have no choice."

"No," Sarah said gently." You don't."


	12. Chapter 12

Sarah dropped her armor and collapsed onto her bed.

Donald Chan had been notified he and his family were safe- and so far that appeared to be true. The land was keeping a figurative eye on the Earth mages-or a literal one for all she knew- and Dennis had already added twenty names to the list. Gavin had decided her shields were good enough to practice on and she had spent the last four days of her off-shift getting the living daylights walloped out of her.

Accusing him of lese-majesty only earned her a snort and a muttered comment about fluff-headed royalty. Then he'd pointed out he wasn't a member of the Goblin Kingdom. She'd told him the day was coming. She'd find someone to wish him away and then where would he be?

Running the Goblin Queen ragged, apparently.

She hadn't even bothered to check the state of the dining room lately. Jenner had obligingly encouraged some moss to grow across her granite planters so Sarah was inclined to ignore the strange looking herbs popping up in window boxes around the apartment. She had gotten Dennis to help her plant an entire row of climbing roses along the right hand fence and the plants were already crawling up the fence and the fairies were happy. At least, none had bitten her.

She'd offered to put in a kitchen garden for Jenner but the woman had sniffed and told her not to bother. Told her that the garden gnome would take care of it. Sarah had blinked, but the garden was definitely taking shape and she wasn't doing anything to it. So far she hadn't seen the gnome, and frankly, she wasn't going looking.

She flipped over and stared at the ceiling.

With some morbid fascination she studied the moss growing up the wall near the window. So far it had left her bed and furniture alone, but the carpet was slowly disappearing. She would have complained, except it had a fresh slightly nutty smell it gave off when she walked on it. It also hadn't eaten her clothes and if there were bugs, she supposed the spider would take care of them. Sarah froze.

Spider?

"Jenner!"she heard herself screech as she raced for the living room.

The woman popped out of the kitchen, an annoyed expression on her face.

"There's a spider hiding in the corner,"Sarah said accusingly.

Jenner tilted her head and looked confused.

"It's a BIG spider,"Sarah added.

Jenner snorted,"Well of course it's big. Couldn't spin much web if'n it was small now could it? She would have moved in earlier, but you were lit up so loud you made her fangs ache. "

Sarah wondered if Jareth had ever been tempted to start beating his head against a wall.

"Don't you go scaring her, now,"Jenner told her firmly.

"Scare her. Scare her?"Sarah repeated, flabberghasted."It's...it's got legs..." She held her hands apart to demonstrate.

Jenner scowled,"Yes, and don't the Unseelie just like to rip into them like they was crab legs. Stupid beasts. Kill 'em just for the poison sacs and now they's all but extinct. "

Sarah took a deep breath,"She's poisonous? How poisonous?"

Jenner looked confused,"What's it matter? Not like she'd bite you." Jenner brightened."If we're lucky, she'll feel safe enough to spin web soon. Best remedy for burns and infection you ever did see. Really valuable. Especially now there are so few of them. "

With that, Jenner nodded sharply and stomped back into the kitchen. Sarah took a deep breath and peered into her room. Jenner must have moved the unused bedside table when she wasn't looking because it rested diagonally across the corner forming a deep triangular hole the spider had dropped into when Sarah yelled. She could just see the curved claws tipping two segmented legs nearly a foot long each. Sarah swallowed.

"Sorry if I scared you,"she said finally."I was a bit startled."

One leg curled uneasily and the other pulled back nervously. Sarah's dragon grumbled sleepily, urging her to just pass out already. Whatever the spider was, her dragon reflexes weren't bothered by it. Sarah sighed and wondered if Jareth would like a spider. She lay down of the bed, convinced she wasn't going to get a wink of sleep imagining those segmented legs. She had just enough time to wonder if the fangs were as long as they had looked when her dragon knocked her out.

As she drifted off to sleep, she thought she heard Jenner singing lullabies.

The next morning the spider was still hiding behind the end table. Sarah was in much a better mood and felt a bit guilty she had scared it so badly. Especially if Jenner had told it that it would be safe here. She hesitated at the door, then turned once.

"You can stay, you know,"she said tentatively.

There was no movement from the corner so she decided to leave it alone. Gavin was due to pick her up and she was hungry. Jenner always disappeared whenever Gavin or Dennis visited so she had one hand full of food when she opened the door to his knock. She was about to ask if he wanted something to eat when his grim expression registered.

"Oh hell, what now?"she moaned.

"Khoi figured out who you were."

Sarah froze,"What?"

Gavin snarled."He must have had someone follow you home."

She had made sure she spent a few hours the past week being visible in Chinatown. She didn't do anything, just made sure she was seen.

"I was careful,"she protested.

"I know,"Gavin said, worry in his eyes."Which means he must have found someone with magic."

"And?"

Gavin ran a hand through his hair."Well, on the up-side, whatever they told him must have convinced him you were serious."

Sarah groaned,"But?"

Gavin frowned sourly,"I'm not sure if he figures you won't retaliate or if his little spy scared him so badly he doesn't want to take any chances at all. Probably a bit of both."

Most of her neighbors had day jobs. This time of morning, the parking lot should have been almost empty. As she stepped into the sunlight she thought at first the spider had bit her after all. then she thought maybe the carnival had come to town. Cars and trucks of all shapes and sizes were jammed into the parking lot, most loaded with frightened children and personal belongings. Every vehicle was surrounded by furniture and boxes from a well-known moving company.

"What the hell?"she started.

Gavin's grim expression deepened." As far as I can tell, the movers just showed up, starting stuffing things in boxes and brought them here."

Sarah gaped."Movers. Here?" She swiveled her head, appalled." All of them?"

"Everyone on the list and their immediate family. Grandparents, children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews." Gavin looked around,"I think they drew the line at ex-wives and cousins not living in the same household."

An elderly man sitting amidst a pile of boxes and clinging to a calico cat stood and approached slowly. He bowed politely, his eyes fixed uncertainly on Sarah. "Are you the Amber Dragon?"

Sarah winced."I'm afraid so."

The man looked back at the chaos stretching down the street. Moving trucks continued to arrive and she could hear people yelling angrily at passers-by drawn by what they obviously thought was some sort of flea market.

"We were told to ask for the Amber Dragon. We were also instructed to tell you that we had been handled with care."The man sighed." They were polite, but these were not the sort of people one feels comfortable resisting."

Sarah stared helplessly at the mass of people. Good lord. Did any of them even know why they were here? What the hell was she supposed to do with them? The police would start issuing tickets soon. She frowned as she peered across the parking lot as saw a dazed couple sitting with two dozen washers and dryers. Another couple was setting baskets of produce on moving boxes and were selling cans of pop from coolers filled with ice.

"Jesus, they moved their businesses, too,"Sarah mumbled.

"I count over a hundred people, not including the children,"Gavin told her.

Tightening her mouth Sarah narrowed her eyes at the park across the street. It had been built by the city back when the area had been intended for families. Urban growth had pushed the families out and most of the apartments were occupied by thirtysomething professionals who could afford the increased rent. There had been talks about refurbishing the park or building subsidized apartments. The local tenants were lobbying against the low-income housing fearing it would bring drug-related crime into the area. As a result, the park had languished. The fence behind the overgrown ball diamond was rusted and sagging, the lawn was a tired green, and the few trees were scraggly. The two picnic tabled chained to the ground were gouged and burned by cigarette lighters.

Sarah could count on one hand the number of times she had actually seen anyone use the park.

"Gavin, could you and Dennis please throw a shield around the park?"

Gavin's eyes widened, then he nodded and was gone. Sarah reached for her cell phone and called Dobbs. He was silent when she explained what she wanted.

"Please, Dobbs. I promise we'll be careful with them."

"Christ Sarah...how many people are you talking about?"Dobbs asked finally.

"Over a hundred - with kids. I can't go into details, but staying at a hotel isn't possible for most of them. Even if they could afford it, everything they own is parked in front of my apartment building."

There was a long pause, then a sigh."The carnival tents won't work. Half of them are out for repair. But I know a guy out at the army base. Give me a couple hours. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Dobbs. I owe you,"she said with relief.

There was a grunt, then a click as he disconnected. Sarah turned to the elderly man.

"Would you be willing to ask everyone to gather over in the park? I'll explain what's going on," she said.

She moved along the street tagging boxes with don't-look spells. She couldn't risk tagging the cars, not without risking an accident, but she figured they would be okay for a few hours. Gavin gave her a nod as the last body crossed into the park and she signaled for him to raise the barricade. It was the same spell he had used to hide the burning warehouse and would hold everyone until she got a chance to explain what was happening. Later though, they'd have to come up with something that would allow access to people the shield recognized, otherwise they'd have people wandering around looking for a park they couldn't find anymore.

No one was happy about the explanation. Half the people looked shell-shocked. Some were just trying to deal calmly with the crisis. A handful restricted themselves to furious mutters until she got to the part about the magic. At that point a good twenty percent starting yelling angrily until Gavin raised his arms and shimmered. Then he came back into focus, a wolf sat regarding them calmly.

There was a shocked silence broken by a few whimpers from the children until one four-year-old laughed brightly and clapped her hands.

"Doggie,"she shouted happily, and squirmed to get down.

A few people laughed when her mother sighed. The wolf grinned, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He stood patiently as a few people inched forward, touching him cautiously, making certain he was real. Sarah turned back to the audience.

"I know this isn't fair, and I know you're scared. For now, let's get your stuff under canvas so it doesn't get wet if it rains. Tents will be arriving shortly. I want everyone to choose one person per family to represent you. Please stay behind and we'll get started. The rest of you, please be patient. In fact, I'd suggest you start sorting through the clothes and personal belongings you want to keep and which will be going into storage."

Surprisingly, most people seemed satisfied with that. Some were grumbling as they walked away, but when she looked around fifteen minutes later she was surrounded by twenty-five serious-faced adults and the rest of the crowd seemed to be taking her request to sort belongings to heart. A couple women had started BBQs in the parking lot and children were crowding around as they handed out hot-dogs.

"Okay,"Sarah said with a sympathetic smile."Let's get started."

It immediately became apparent that more than half the families had lost their sources of income. Some, like the couple with the Laundromat, had lost a business. Others worked in Chinatown. The other half usually had at least one adult who worked outside Chinatown, but many of those had seen their incomes reduced when their spouses lost jobs. Faces were grim as they combed a paper someone donated for apartment listings.

A few people were trying to contact relatives who might take them in, but most would need accommodation at least temporarily. Several planned to move their things to a self-storage warehouse and Sarah was pleased to note a few people discussing sharing the expense of a rental space to house larger pieces of furniture. Anything they could move away from the park was one less thing they would have to find space to store.

"I can tag each item with a spell keyed to the owner. No one else will be able to carry it beyond a set perimeter without getting a nasty jolt." Dennis was saying.

Oddly, after a couple raised eyebrows, most took it in stride. Sarah suspected they were still in shock. She had a feeling anger would return when they had time to realize someone had walked in and taken away their lives-and there was nothing they could do about it. A few of them might have been willing to push the issue until Gavin reminded them quietly that the protection granted by the land did not extend to anyone who might aide them.

It was a bitter pill for all of them, but the looks on the older faces were the worst. Some of them had immigrated to escape this sort of thing. She sighed and turned back to the discussion at hand.

Electricity was going to be an issue. Gavin had called a friend who was trying to get him several fifth-wheel generators. The question was how to distribute it fairly.

"Look,"Gavin was saying too patiently,"we can hide a certain amount of generator noise, but we can't have people running their own. The noise just isn't controllable and it isn't safe."

A man in his mid-forties leaned forward,"I can get us as many meter boxes as we need. Why don't we just give every tent a box and let people pay by the kilowatt/hr like the rest of the world?"

Gavin frowned thoughtfully. "I like the idea, but how do we control the loads to each tent? One too many TVs and we could blow the generator."

The man shrugged,"Govenors are easy enough to wire in. We limit the amount of power anyone can draw at any one time. Limit the total to -say-85 of max output. That way we just need to keep an eye on the gas levels."

Sarah nodded,"I like it. We got anyone to keep track of power usage and who owes what? Someone everyone will trust?"

A tiny woman at the far end of the picnic tables raised a hand."My granddaughter was an accountant for a big company. I will see if she will agree."

Dennis nodded and made a note on his clipboard.

Sarah looked toward Gavin."I want to dedicate one of the generators to the kitchen and common area lighting."

She turned her head to another man in his forties - Sammy was his name, and he and his family had run a restaurant. Currently all their equipment was sitting in the parking lot and he had volunteered to run the kitchen.

"Most of your stuff runs on propane right?"

Sammy nodded.

She nodded,"Okay, let Mr. Cho know how much electricity you need."

Jareth's gold was going to disappear pretty damn fast even with everyone pitching in to cover things like cleaning the common areas. Gavin had already suggested that the chores would be a good way for the Earth mages to practice basic spells. On a more practical note, Sarah thought seeing the cause of all the fuss cleaning outhouses might go a long way to soothing ruffled feathers. Dennis had assured her they could set up a self-recycling water system for showers.

Sarah tapped the table thoughtfully,"The Goblin Kingdom will foot the bill for the kitchen for the first four weeks. After that, I want a plan that covers expenses. Suggestions? Volunteers?"

Gavin frowned,"The mages should be able to handle lighting spells by that time, so all we're really looking at is propane and food."

After discussion, two people had volunteered to get together with Sammy and hammer out a viable proposal. Sarah looked around soberly.

"I know most of you are looking forward to finding jobs elsewhere, but work aside, we all know how hard it is to find a place to rent in New York, and then find one that be afforded." It had taken three years for Sarah to find her apartment, and she wasn't sure some of these people had been apartment hunting in decades. "Additionally, for the sake of your mages, you have to understand that without training they are vulnerable. There are things that will hunt them, especially now, when they are on territory they don't know. Staying together is safer right now - at least until they learn some basic defense."She hesitated, then bit the bullet."I suggest most of you think in terms of staying the summer."

There was polite rejection on some faces, people too polite to tell her to go to hell, but she had a feeling at least half of these people would still be here by summer's end. There were almost twenty mages and most of them were married with children. Oddly - or perhaps not so oddly - none of them were married to each other. Sarah had discovered a near craving for the company of other mages developing as she advanced in her training. She had also found a definite preference developing for her close complement over her near-complement, but either would do.

Gavin had just shrugged and said it was normal.

Dennis was Earth and Gavin was Air. Fire was near-compliment, not close to Earth, but without Water mages available, Dennis and Gavin had both agreed the Earth mages would be drawn to her presence. Especially once they started working with her. Apparently, when she unshielded, now that she had learned keep her output from disrupting those around her, the power of her matrix would draw those of lesser power to her like moths to a flame. Sarah wasn't certain how she felt about that analogy.

It did explain why the strongest mages were usually the ones in power.

The rumble of a large truck cut short a discussion of the maintenance chores people expected would be needed. Sarah raised an eyebrow as two army transports rumbled into view. They shuddered to a halt in front of her apartment building, cutting off the street in both directions. Dobbs climbed out of the passenger side of the first truck and stood staring at the parking lot. Sarah saw him shake his head, then turn to scan the area. She stood, and when he saw her he raised a hand in a brief wave and started across the muddy grass.

"You don't do things by half, do you?" Dobbs asked sourly.

She smiled uneasily. Dobbs had still not forgotten about what he had seen. She had come to a depressing conclusion that he had not requested reassignment partly because he didn't trust her anymore and wanted to keep an eye on her. Dobbs slanted a look past her shoulder and she thought at first he was looking at the impromptu council gathered at the picnic tables. It was another moment before she realized Gavin had accompanied her across the grass and was standing silently at her shoulder.

"You have no idea how grateful I am," she said sincerely." How long do we have before everything has to go back?"

Dobbs waved a hand."Whenever,"he said absently, eyes traveling over the people moving slowly toward the trucks. In the back, three men in camouflage BDUs threw heavy canvas bundles. Smaller bundles were green, the larger looked black and willing hands made short work of carry the bundles to the park.

"You're renting all this stuff," Dobbs added."It's mostly surplus and Jamie says you can take your time getting it back." He handed over a bunch of papers and Sarah's eyebrows shot up at the figure at the bottom.

"You sure this is right?" she asked doubtfully.

Dobbs flashed his teeth in an amused grin,"He owed me a favor."

Gavin leaned over Sarah's shoulder. "Apparently," he said, impressed.

Dobbs smiled perfunctorily, then glanced at Sarah. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

Sarah glanced at Gavin with surprise. He just shrugged and wandered off to help Dennis sort out what they were going to do with the tents. Dobbs kept his eyes on Gavin's back until he was certain he was out of range, then eyed Sarah with concern.

"Is he the reason you got mixed up with all this crazy shit?"

Sarah blinked. "Gavin?" she asked blankly.

"Is that his name?"Dobbs asked tightly.

Sarah stared, bemused. There had been definite hostility in that question. She knew he wasn't jealous. Well, not romantically, anyway. Wryly, she wondered if he would be more comfortable if he could blame her recent insanity on a man. She glanced toward Gavin and was surprised to find him watching the two of them, an unfathomable expression in his eyes. She sighed. Sidhe. Sons-of-a-gun could hear rats breathe at fifty paces.

"He's a friend,"she said.

"That's not an answer,"Dobbs said.

"I don't think you want a real answer,"she replied evenly.

He flushed, but he didn't argue. He knew as well as she did who had been avoiding whom. He glared at nothing, then took a deep breath.

"Why?"he asked softly.

She sighed."Why what?"

The glare transferred to her face.

"Why did you let them burn?"he demanded angrily.

Defensive instincts hesitated, confused.'Let who burn?"she said incredulously.

"Taylor! Green!"Dobbs burst out."If you could do...that. How could you let them burn?" His anguish was real and Sarah closed her eyes, remembered horror and helplessness washing over her. Her shoulders sagged.

"I didn't,"she said quietly."I wouldn't,"she said more firmly, angry he could even think she would. "That wasn't me."

The disbelief on his face lashed at the guilt she had felt the moment she had realized what she might be capable of doing under the right circumstances.

"Don't judge something you don't understand,"she said coldly."The ability was mine, but the power, the strength to kill a fire that size, I don't have that."

Yet, instinct whispered.

"The land wanted the woman rescued. It hijacked my body to do it."

Dobbs blinked,"The land?"

She stamped a foot impatiently in mute demonstration."The land. The planet. Whatever you want to call it. "

"Taylor and Green weren't good enough to save, is that it?"he demanded.

Sarah let the sadness and frustration she had felt show in her face."They weren't mages."

Dobbs kicked at the ground violently."So much for Mother Earth,"he said bitterly.

Sarah sighed,"Mages just have the ability to scream loud enough to be heard."


	13. Chapter 13

Sarah smiled at Sammy's youngest granddaughter and accepted a cup of coffee with a smile. Pip grinned at her and dashed off. Sarah eyed the child speculatively. She was on the list and if she wasn't mistaken, was developing one hell of a power reservoir. Sammy had told Sarah proudly that Pip had had the best touch with family's small greenhouse of cooking herbs. His smile had faltered slightly, then firmed up with determination. Sarah could only admire his courage. The greenhouse, unfortunately, had been part of the restaurant and had been lost.

Sammy's mother had already told Sarah firmly that Pip would be attending the class Dennis was organizing. He had laid claim to one of the large black tents and three-quarters of the mages had committed to the training.

Sarah glanced around the dining area approvingly. The black tents hand interior canvas walls that could be used to section the tent into rooms and two of the tents had been pitched side by side and sectioned to provide a kitchen, storage area, and eating area. The picnic tables had been collected from around the park and six of them on a double row provided seating for about a third of the population at any one time. The dirt floor was a bit incongruous when compared to the gleaming metal and glass counter and cafeteria-style cooler already holding bowls of jello and rice pudding.

She stepped out the entrance and sipped her coffee thoughtfully. The tents had been pitched in rows with edges that looked to have been lined with a ruler. Gavin had just shrugged and said he had a lot of practice. The impromptu council had taken her warning about planning for the long term to heart and they had done an unbelievable job of matching resources to needs and skills.

They had chosen to respect that people needed an income and that those who had jobs could help support those who did not. Using the kitchen as a centre point, black tents were pitched end to end in an open rectangle, three tents to the long sides, two to the short ends. When Sarah had initially seen the plan, she had worried they had overcommitted business space compared to personal space, but it had filled faster than she would have thought possible.

The Sing family had one whole tent and were busy organizing their supermarket goods on makeshift shelves in the two-thirds of the tent they were using as an open market. The tents sectioned comfortably into thirds and were admirably suited to families with children and who needed to watch the front counter- so to speak. Where the families were limited to single people or couples, people were generally given a green tent for personal use and one of the courtyard sections for their businesses.

The council had been ruthless in restricting courtyard use to businesses that benefited the community as a whole.

Dennis had an entire tent for the classroom. The man with the calico cat turned out to be an apothecary. He was given two sections - one for personal and one for his wares. The third section of his tent was given to a woman who did therapeutic massage. Sarah discovered a tailor, a computer technician, and a bookstore. Johnny, who had owned a convienience store, sold his magazines to the bookstore and his grocery inventory to the supermarket and promptly opened an internet kiosk in partnership with Annie, the computer technician. Annie admitted she could get more from the computers if she sold them, but since she could build and sell computers over the web she wasn't in danger of starving while she was living rent free. She wanted to help.

Everywhere Sarah looked, people were doing the same.

When the council had discovered they had an ex-librarian in their midst, they gave one whole tent to the kiosk and a shared resource centre. Mae had spent the first day the tents were up making rounds and asking people for book donations. People had been generous and several of the parents of college aged students had dug out old textbooks. The result was a fairly comprehensive business administration collection and Sarah had already heard talk of evening classes in job hunting, resume writing, and small business marketing and web-design.

To say she was impressed would have been an understatement.

Three days. These folks had had three whole days - including moving day. She kept waiting for people to stop grieving and start getting angry, but everywhere she looked people were hopeful and working hard. There were shadows of fear in some eyes, especially those whose families were still trying to figure out how to earn a living, but even these people were more determined than despairing.

Two black tents had been pitched back to back with the right-hand side of the rectangle with a smaller green tent between them. The tents had been outfitted as showers and the green tent held the water tanks. Dennis was already teaching the Earth mages how to maintain the filtration spells and Gavin had shown Sarah how to weave and set the basic heating spells needed for hot water. She had found the power requirements to be minimal - the land was being extraordinarily co-operative - but the weaving was a more delicate process than she expected. If these were basic spells she could understand why most people learned a toolkit of basic spells suited to their life-style and left the rest to professional mages.

The weather was warm for the middle of May, but it was still cooler than was comfortable. Sarah had been thinking in terms of portable heaters until Dennis pointed out she had more than enough ability to do the spells herself. She'd sighed as she considered it took a real mental effort to translate something she used machines to do into something that could be accomplished by a spell. Gavin was skewed to the Fire side of his element and had spent a large part of the last two days showing her how to fireproof the tents and create a generic heat spell that would run for about two weeks depending on outside temperatures.

When he wasn't making sure she wasn't in danger of blowing something up, Gavin had been working on a more permanent version of his shield spell. The don't-look-at-me spell had kept the neighborhood from noticing the tent city parked on the ball field, but they needed something more useful. Gavin assured her that once the basic framework went up, he could add characteristic and tweak the spell after the fact. Initially, it would only allow access to the park to any of the residents or someone deliberately tagged as a guest. Anyone else would find themselves gently encouraged to ignore the park. Anyone determined enough to force the issue would find themselves caught in a confusion spell that would lead them to walk around the park in circles until they forgot why they wanted to be there in the first place.

Gavin wanted to build in a filter that would allow in people who felt friendly and whose emotional attitude toward the community was a positive one. That would take more than a couple of weeks to build. Dennis had suggested it might be easier to mask the living quarters and request permits from the city for some sort of Chinese Cultural Summer Fair. That would expand their options to include tourist income. Judicious use of don't-look spells would keep the city inspectors from looking too closely at the source of the hot and cold running water.

Their resident lawyer was looking into it.

The second thing Gavin had been doing with the shield was using it as a sort of greenhouse. The barely visible shimmer of energy capping the walls of the shield trapped and circulated the heat rising from the bodies and her heat spells. He estimated that in another week the ambient temperature would be higher than seasonal. The effect would not only reduce the hours needed to create heat spells, but it should allow the Earth mages to start forcing the plant growth. Aside from the possibility of raising some fruits and vegetables, Dennis thought a more pleasant park might encourage the tourists to stop by and browse.

Past the showers, a double row of green tents acted as personal quarters and the last two black tents at the far end and pitched perpendicular to the row served as common storage for all the belongings that had not been shipped to self-storage.

"Do spiders sing?" Sarah asked abruptly.

Gavin paused, one foot frozen in mid-air. He ignored the fact she had identified his approach without turning. She had noticed her hearing had gotten progressively sharper and he had advised it was another sign her body was almost finished adapting to her new human shift form pattern. He set his foot slowly on the ground and looked at her questioningly.

"If they like you."

Sarah nodded, then went back to studying the tent city. Already, pots of plants were appearing around the entrances to individual tents and some tents were wearing streamers of colorful fabric. Boxes, makeshift shelves and movable racks crowded the areas in front of the courtyard tents, extending the stores into the open air.

"Have you got a singing spider?" Gavin asked, amused.

Sarah grimaced. "Big one, hiding in my bedroom."

Gavin lost his smile. "You have a Silk Spider?"

Sarah shrugged,"I guess. Jenner says she's scared of getting her legs ripped off."

"Legs ripped...? That would be a Silk Spider all right." Gavin gave her an odd look."She's living in your bedroom?"

"Is that unusual?"Sarah asked reluctantly.

Gavin opened his mouth, then blinked. "Nowadays? Hell, yes."He tilted his head thoughtfully. "On the other hand, I shouldn't be surprised. "

Sarah frowned,"What does that mean?"

Gavin grinned, "If you don't know, I don't think I'm going to tell you. "

Sarah stuck her tongue out at him but didn't give him the satisfaction of begging him to elaborate. H was too much like Jareth sometimes. If ever she had needed confirmation that Jareth's slightly malicious sense of humor was racial all she had to do was spent ten minutes with Gavin. On the other hand, neither Dennis nor Jiann had quite so biting a wit so maybe it had something to do with being Air. Or some combination of being male and Air.

She'd have to ask Jareth when she saw him.

She hesitated to think too closely about what he'd think about recent events. She thought guiltily about the crystal in the bottom of her drawer and knew she should contact him and equally certain she would not. She knew she was only putting off the inevitable, and she didn't know what she thought would happen. She only knew that she had started to avoid looking at the drawer whenever she passed it. It occurred to her, not for the first time, that with the time differential, almost five years had gone by in the Goblin Kingdom.

Still, it wasn't like she was ducking her responsibilities, right? Gavin was teaching her how to protect herself. She was learning how to sneak up on Unseelie creatures. She couldn't exactly go trotting through Despair without knowing that, right? Plus, she couldn't shift. What use was a dragon who wasn't a dragon yet? And she had made his point for him to the Upper Kingdoms. Everyone within a three hundred mile radius knew how powerful she was, and according to Gavin, everybody knew the story of how she got her magic. Or the general outline. They all got the salient point that Jareth was just as powerful.

Dennis seemed to have more contacts within the Sidhe Court and he had advised her that her protective stance toward the part-bloods had definitely been noticed. So far no one had been forced to do more than comment disdainfully on her connection to the Goblin Kingdom, but her ultimatum to Belcraven had definitely been noted and the situation was being watched closely.

Frankly, Sarah was just glad they were leaving her alone. The tent city was proving to demand less of her time than she had expected, but she still had to take lessons with the rest of the mages. The heater spells were not difficult, but they needed so damn many of them. Gavin was pushing her sword-fighting to an extremely painful level now that her shift-healing was fully functional, and she was still fighting fire full-time. One side-effect of the presence of the Earth mages was the near universal evacuation of the Unseelie from the immediate area.

Most Unseelie had given her neighborhood a wide birth long before she started hunting them. Sarah discovered that many part-bloods had gritted their teeth and endured the headaches before she learned to shield in exchange for the safety from the Unseelie her presence had provided. They'd be gritting their teeth for another week or so until the Earth mages got their shields fully in place, but the collective power of the elemental Earth magic rippling through the land doubled the safe zone and practically made her local patrols unnecessary. She would still hunt, but she could focus on strategic attacks instead of the random and time consuming wandering she had been doing.

Unseelie aside, she was concerned about some of the things Dennis and Gavin said were normal hazards for the part-bloods. She wasn't ready to go to war with Belcraven - not considering the mess that had resulted from her attempt at direct action. She wanted to ask Jareth about the political repercussions to dealing with Belcraven by stepping on him. Literally. Her dragon was going to be a big beast.

In the meantime, she wanted to start hunting for predators of a different sort. Not to take action - yet. But she needed to know what they looked like. Where they hunted and who was their favorite prey.

Speaking of which...

"Gavin...I want the classes opened to part-bloods," she said evenly.

She felt him go still. It was the same instinctive response Jareth used when startled. No jerks or uncontrolled starts. Just an inner listening silence reflected in a complete absence of body movement.

"Are you certain?"he asked in a careful voice. She hurt for him, for what she was asking him to risk, but she was not going to change her mind.

"Yes."

She turned and let him see her eyes. The regret over what she was asking, her knowledge of the potential consequences...and her resolution. She felt strange, pushing him on this. He had volunteered to teach her and she had tried not to take advantage of that generosity. He made it hard, with his silent presence. He had not even blinked when she had started the tent city - simply stepped in with quiet confidence where ever he was needed. Dennis did the same, but it was always Gavin she found at her shoulder whenever she turned around. Now, for the first time, she was asking something rather than accepting.

And she wasn't asking.

He looked at her for a moment, then smiled slightly. It wasn't mocking, in fact, if she hadn't known better, behind the concern lay a certain element of satisfaction. She wondered if perhaps she was simply asking him to do something he had wanted to do for a long time. Then he startled her with a courtly bow. Not overly elaborate, but respectful. The sort of everyday bow she had seen daily in the Court of the Inner Kingdom. A bow a man might give to his Queen.

"As you wish,"he said softly.

She studied his face carefully for anger, but saw nothing. Finally she nodded slowly.

"I'll ask Dennis if he'll help,"she added.

Gavin smiled again, this time a touch ruefully."No need. I'll tell him later."

Again, she had the feeling she was missing something. Exasperation flared, then died. She didn't think she would ever completely understand the Sidhe. Everything was a game to them it seemed. Every word loaded with hidden meanings. They were natural politicians...and she was not. She supposed it was a skill she would learn.

Eventually.


	14. Chapter 14

"You've got to be joking,"Sarah managed, staring at the monstrosity in horror.

Dennis grinned,"Nope."

She refused to acknowledge the small crowd of mages hovering just out of view, their amusement at her shock clearly shimmering in their matrices. She had worried at first, how slowly their progress on shielding seemed until Dennis advised her that due to the stresses places on the body while learning to shield-it was a direct manipulation of the matrix after all - he couldn't push them the way Gavin had pushed her. They couldn't shift heal the damage to their flesh and without the depth of power she possessed, their matrices were more vulnerable to being torn.

So they practiced other skills.

Cleaning spells were easy to learn and took little skill. The recycling spells on the shower system were still being maintained by Dennis and Gavin, but at least three students were almost to the point where they could begin to help. They had already learned to facilitate the rapid breakdown of sewage into usable loam, and part of the daily chores included emptying the outhouse and turning the result into the soil in the unused part of the park. The added richness of the soil was assisting with the forced growth of plants and bushes the Earth mages had been encouraging. Dennis had started to show them how to shape stone, and the students had spent a happy day using elemental magic to shape pathways through the area.

Tent city had been pitched on the ball field, but the park included a small playground and a handful of picnic tables nestled amongst a few scraggly trees. The picnic tables were now in the dining tents, but the rest of the park had possibilities. Dennis had been showing them how to shape larger pieces by combining their abilities by using one of their own as a focus. Their resident lawyer - the husband of one of the mages - had come through with the permits. Gavin had gone with him into the city and Sarah didn't ask how much magic had been used to pry approval loose. However they had done it, the Chinese Cultural Faire was now an official corporation and held stamped and signed approvals - and a ten year lease on the park.

Gavin had hastily assured her they hadn't hurt anyone with that document. The low-income housing proposal had been defeated and funds for the upgrading of the park had been denied in the last budget and probably would be again in the next. Basic maintenance was all they wanted to do since everyone agreed the land needed to be turned to better use. By promising to take over the care of the park and offering the possibility of bringing money and -better yet- cultural diversity to the area, they had managed to get approval for the lease without resorting to magic at all.

Magic just got them a hearing in days rather than months.

Ignoring the issue of backdated application forms and various other misdemeanors, Sarah had not really been surprised to see the recently reformed Council of ten duly elected community members were now listed as Board members. Except for one mage representative, the mages were not on the council and in fact had formed their own council to deal with the ongoing issue of scheduling training and chore-duties. Something that was getting exponentially more complicated by the minute.

With a lease on the park, the Board had decided to take advantage of the mages' stone shaping abilities and had requested statues. Culturally relevant, statues. One of their mages was also a gifted artist and they saw no reason not to make use of her abilities. Sarah should have known what the subject matter would be.

Dragons.

Chinese dragons, of course.

Two huge dragons flanked the section of the park they had chosen as the gateway. Stone pathways meandered beneath trees now fully in bloom, past whimsical dragons, watchful dragons, and a stone Chinese Pagoda that was thankfully decorated in lotus blossoms. The last item was a truly magnificent piece of work and had taken every bit of magic the group possessed. It was huge, centered in the courtyard of the marketplace. A larger, less Americanized version of her fountain now rose almost fourteen feet into the air. The dragon launching itself into flight peered down as if keeping an eye on all within its domain. Lotus trees bloomed on the bowl and stone benches circled the base. The water in the bowl lay smooth and peaceful, undisturbed by the darting goldfish shimmering just beneath the surface. Touching the rim of the bowl, Sarah could sense the subtle touch of a recycling spell keeping the water fresh.

Sarah heard a small giggle and tilted her head to see Kevin Duncan, a mischievous scamp of a six-year-old, peering at her from the other side of the fountain. He giggled again when he saw her looking at him, then scampered off to join a group of children giggling at her from the other side of the courtyard. Kevin was duly praised for his bravery and she wondered if she wanted to know what plots were being hatched when the kids started whispering.

She was pleased to see the group of children evenly split between mages and those without magical potential. She was even more pleased to see that at least two more of the children in the group were not part of the original Triad-enforced relocation.

They were part-bloods.

In spite of the danger to any part-blood learning magic, neither Dennis nor Gavin had been surprised by the steady trickle of part-bloods making their way to the park. It was treason for any Court mage to teach a part-blood magic. Ostensibly it was to prevent the uncontrolled and immoral practice of magic without the supervision of the Court. The reality was a lot uglier, and any part-blood with training obtained without the Court's permission could become a priority target if discovered. However, as Dennis had pointed out bitterly, there were more Unseelie than Sidhe and the part-bloods were already a priority target for them.

Even Gavin had been surprised by the handful of children being quietly smuggled in to take lessons. With school almost over for the summer, Sarah had been tentatively discussing the possibility of the parents finding a babysitter and having the children camp out during the week, thus reducing the numbers of times they had to be smuggled in or out of the park. So far, the parents were cautiously agreeable.

Nearly all the part-bloods were Air, even the females. The rest, shocking Gavin and Dennis into stunned silence, were Water. Children of Water to be precise, and to a person, every single Water mage, adult or child, could trace their ancestry directly to Ireland. It was Dennis who made the connection.

"Selkies,"he had said abruptly, for no apparent reason.

Sarah and Gavin had just looked at each other in confusion. Dennis had snorted.

"The Children of Water, they were selkies."

Sarah recognized the name, but not the significance. Dennis saw the expression on her face and hastened to explain.

"Water mages often find it difficult to live on land. Those skewed to Air tend to return to the ocean permanently. They are usually dolphins, but are sometimes whales. Those skewed to Earth..."he shrugged."I heard stories that a few of them survived in the deserts as camels, but I've never met one, so who is to say. They may have been Earth skewed to Water. Only the Children of Water seem able to exist comfortably in both worlds. They always live near water - in the old days it was fishing villages."

Sarah had caught her breath when she finally understood. Irish immigrants. Children of Water processed through Ellis Island and who had chosen to stay in New York rather than risk the overland journey to the west. Sadly, of all the Earth mages, only Pip was a Child of Earth, but Sarah was hopeful more would be found. She had not said anything to Gavin or Dennis, but in the back of her mind, the possibility of getting some Earth-Water partnerships to agree to help reclaim the Desert of Despair had been born the minute she had realized that Water had been rediscovered.

"Ms Williams?"

Sarah suppressed a sigh. She had told everyone to call her Sarah. Everyone had nodded politely, then taken great amusement in continuing to call her the Amber Dragon. In Chinese ,of course. Donald Chan was the exception. He wouldn't call her anything but Ms. Williams. She wondered what he was going to do when she officially wore the Goblin Crown because she absolutely refused to answer to Mrs. Jareth.

She was surprised to see him holding a fairly thick file folder and watching her with a strange combination of excitement and professional evaluation. He transferred his gaze to Dennis.

"My daughter told me you said the mages could filter impurities from the land the same way they are doing with the water systems. Is this true? Can you really reclaim contaminated land?"

Dennis took his time answering, eyeing the intensity of the man before them with curiosity. "Yes, it's true. It may take time if the land is extremely polluted, but we can do it."

Donald smiled as if that was the answer he wanted. He shifted his gaze back to Sarah.

"I may have a solution to where we are going to live," he said.


	15. Chapter 15

"Are you all nuts?"Sarah demanded.

Donald grinned and pointed past the old-fashioned warehouse that had housed a slaughterhouse and stockyard. "The houses across the street were all condemned when the extent of the contamination became known. This entire neighborhood is owned by the city all the way to the highway."

Gavin was studying the old stone brewery while Dennis was down on his knees next to a sickly looking oak someone must have planted in the brewery courtyard almost a hundred years ago. His hands were touching the bark gently and he had an intent expression on his face that did not bode well for Sarah's peace of mind.

The stockyard had gone out of business in the fifties but the warehouses had been solidly built and over the years had been used fairly regularly- although not profitably- until they and the brewery were purchased by an artists' consortium. There had been rumors of the being widened and turned into a major artery for the city. The construction of the original highway had left the primary entrance into the area passing under an overpass and while this rabbit run of roads tended not to bother the transports moving in and out of the area, it made it hard to find for the average Saturday tourist.

The planned expansion would have straightened several of the feeder streets and made the access more user friendly. The Consortium planned to develop a thriving Arts community complete with waterfront theatre. Their plans had come crashing down when a completely new high speed highway was constructed instead, almost completely cutting the area off from regular traffic.

By this time, the rail yard had been closed, and a group of foreign investors purchased the brewery and stockyard with an option to buy the rail yard, the goal being to build luxury waterfront condos. The plan self-destructed when an environmental analysis showed the land to be highly contaminated as a direct result of spills and toxic chemicals shipped and stored through the rail yard. Rather than risk a complicated lawsuit, the city had appropriated the homes around the area with the understanding they would include that land - including the rail yard -at a very nominal cost to anybody willing to buy the brewery and stockyard and take responsibility for the massive clean-up.

There had been various attempts to raise funds, New York housing being what it was, but the New Jersey Tunnel made almost as fast and more convenient to commute to Jersey. Worse, the areas on either side were relentlessly industrial and the view uninspiring. The air was always tainted by the smell of diesel and the view was uninspiring. The cost involved with the clean-up would demand the most luxurious and expensive condos and without the walk-by traffic into the first floor businesses that most condo buildings used to supplement their income, it was determined that there was no way the project could be completed at a profit.

Other possibilities were tabled: a sewage treatment plant, a refinery, a shipyard and even a completely modern terminal for the new supertankers. The answer was always the same. Wonderful idea, great benefit for the community...too expensive after the clean-up. The city had just about decided that if anything was to be done, they would have to pay for it. Unfortunately, there were always other projects that cost less for more benefit.

Unfortunate for the city, but perhaps fortunate for the city's newest International Cultural Centre.

The more Donald talked, the more Sarah had to admit the idea wasn't as crazy as it sounded. The bank had been forced to repossess the property and would be thrilled swap it for Donald's much more marketable office building in downtown Chinatown - even with the fire damage. Nominally the land was worth ten times the value of Donald's equity in the office building, but it was a paper value the bank couldn't do anything with. They would just be pleased to cut their losses.

The plan to essentially give the city-owned land around the contaminated area to the people willing to decontaminate it had been approved long ago. Donald was certain that the city would be more than willing to unload its white elephant. The only sticky point would be convincing the city that the contamination would actually proceed as planned. That was where Gavin came in.

Donald had been intrigued with Gavin's ability to create backdated documents and suggested that they create a small company specializing in difficult decontaminations. It would be a real company - another form of income for the community if desired - except that Gavin would fiddle the documents to show a fictitious history of completed projects going back ten years. Said company would be solidly in the black and would partner with Chan to do the clean-up at cost in exchange for part ownership in the project.

For his part, Donald was willing to cede ownership of the property to the Goblin Kingdom in exchange for the contract to develop the Cultural Centre and part ownership of an income producing property - the type of which to be determined at a later date.

"You realize you are effectively paying me to allow you to work your ass off, right?" Sarah asked him dryly.

Donald shrugged and grinned,"It's what I do."

Sarah smiled in return, then frowned at the dismal waterfront."I like the idea, but where are we going to get the cash? Gavin might be able to fudge the bank statements for our decontamination company-and don't get me started because I want to avoid that possibility please. But we are going to need real money to keep everybody fed and to renovate the buildings. The mages can only do so much."

Although, that stone shaping ability of theirs had possibilities.

Donald gave her a steady look and handed her another sheaf of paper. Sarah glanced at it, then flipped through it with growing disbelief. Gavin had mentioned in passing that there were arrangements between the Sidhe and one of the local banks. It was not Sidhe owned. As such, part-bloods were welcome. Business, after all, was business. It was also a bank used to dealing with mages.

Every single one of her Earth mages had been granted a line of credit for twenty-five thousand dollars purely on the strength of their developing talent. Each and every one of them had then signed the money over in exchange for ownership of their own condos once they were built. A more than fair trade considering the mages would be building the darn things.

Sarah mulled over the possibilities thoughtfully.

There was no reason at all the decontamination company couldn't run as a real business. It would not only provide jobs for the mages, but surely they would need people to do the mundane stuff like bookkeeping and answering the telephone. The artists had nearly finished converting the old stockyard display ring into a huge indoor theatre complete with rigging for lights and sound equipment. The pens had been redesigned to act as kiosks for artisans and the office space had been converted into workrooms. A smaller arena had clearly been intended for either a food court or possibly a gallery.

She wasn't certain she liked the idea of opening the community to the public. It would be nice if the mages had someplace they could work without worrying about ending up on Ripley's Believe It of Not. She wondered if there was any way to make the community itself sufficient. She paused and tilted her head. A university perhaps. Teaching magic? Sarah narrowed her eyes. Instead of opening the community to the public, what if they opened it to the magical public?

God, the Upper Kingdoms would bust a collective blood vessel.

It was time to talk to Jareth.

Unfortunately, she never got the chance. A messenger from the Court was waiting for her when Gavin pulled into the parking lot. Dennis gave the messenger a wary look, then he hustled Donald back to Tent City. The messenger was staring across the street, a blank expression on his face and in spite of the seeming disinterest in his eyes; Sarah was certain he could describe the dragons guarding the gate down to the last stone scale. The messenger bowed, correctly polite.

"The Queen instructs me to invite the Champion of the Goblin Kingdom to appear before the Court to address certain actions that have come to her attention."

For one moment, Sarah feared they had found out about the part-bloods. She glanced at Gavin but he was studying the messenger with more interest than concern. She had no doubt he could hide his emotions with the best of them, but he also seemed in no hurry to get her alone to describe the latest calamity to befall them.

"When would this meeting be taking place?" she asked with forced calm.

The messenger bowed again."As soon as you are ready to depart. The Queen has instructed me to provide transportation."

Gavin did narrow his eyes at that. Sarah suspected there might be a veiled insult buried in those instructions, but the good thing about being ignorant of Sidhe politics - she didn't know enough to be insulted. Sarah smiled pleasantly and made her way to her car. She had taken to wearing her armor and sword everywhere lately. One never knew when a dragon would be needed to smite an Unseelie. Plus, Gavin was getting paranoid about assassination attempts.

She got her cloak from the trunk and slung it around her shoulder, flipping it clear of the sword. Then she smiled at the messenger.

"Ready," she said placidly.

Gavin made a choked sound and the messenger's eyes widened in shock. The messenger ran his eyes down her armor-clad body before he could control the reflex. Sarah smiled again, pleased. The Queen wanted to talk to the Champion did she? Well, the Champion wanted to talk to her as well.

The messenger took a deep breath and pulled a crystal from a pouch at his waist. Gavin took a quick step, placing himself behind Sarah's right shoulder before it could be activated. The messenger was beyond shock however and just triggered the spell. Jareth was better at transportation spells she thought a minute later when the magic finally dropped them into the center of a crowded audience hall. If the intent was to disconcert new arrivals it failed. Sarah had experienced several trips in a similar manner and she had no skirts to get tangled or sorted out.

She spotted the throne and strode toward it with determined steps. Courtiers glared at her when she passed too close or refused to give way, but Sarah felt a fine disregard for their games. She was not a member of this Court and no one here held her oath. The preemptory summons was another thing that Sarah was only prepared to tolerate because it suited her purposes. She supposed the worst they could do was deport her and she wasn't certain they could do that.

When she reached a polite distance from the Throne, she bowed a rigidly correct bow Jiann had forced her to learn before letting her leave. It was perfectly correct, a bow between equals, but she could see several courtiers tense with either irritation or outrage, depending on their politics. The Queen was too experienced to let her own thoughts show on her face and Sarah briefly admired the sculpted beauty of her face. As with Belcraven, if the Queen was using glamour, it was too subtle to sense.

The Queen let her gaze drift past Sarah's right shoulder. For a moment Sarah thought she saw some flicker of surprise then the moment was lost. She was uncertain whether she had just gained or lost points and she had a feeling she was going to have a headache long before this meeting was over. Two courtiers, drifted to stand slightly to the right of the throne. Not as close as Gavin was standing to her, Sarah thought with consideration. Advisors then. Definitely favored.

Sarah set herself to wait for the Queen to speak first.

The silence stretched uncomfortably for the courtiers, she had no intention of appearing a supplicant before the Court. Or lacking in control. She had learned patience while hunting Unseelie and was fully prepared to wait all night if necessary. The Queen let the silence hold for another five minutes, then reached for a glass of wine resting on a tray held by a page standing to the left of the throne. Sarah did not even glance at the tray and she refused to look at the glass, denying the Court the satisfaction of seeing her acknowledge that she had been denied the courtesy of an offer of a drink.

The Queen set her glass back on the tray a fraction harder than normal. The wine swayed in the glass gently, but Sarah still refused to glance at it. After a moment, the Queen smiled coldly.

"It has come to our attention that you are training human Earth Mages."

Sarah could almost hear Jareth's mild sneer in her mind and she raised an eyebrow that acknowledged the charge while looking a bit puzzled anyone would bother to waste their time stating the obvious. When one of the courtiers flushed angrily Sarah understood why Jareth loved taunting the Court of the Inner Kingdom.

It was fun.

The Queen tapped one forefinger against the arm of her throne."Perhaps, as you are a guest in this kingdom, you were unaware that we do not permit the training of any except those outside the protection and control of the Court."

"Admirable,"Sarah replied, the very flatness of her tone leaving listeners open to interpret her meaning any way they wished.

She poked the land sharply, trying to get its attention. It shifted and stretched sleepily. She shoved the certainty that the Earth mages were in danger into its consciousness. She felt the land refocus with rapidity. The Queen's smile did not waver.

"Then, as a guest, we expect you to respect our laws. You will cease training them immediately."

Sarah had hoped to prod the land into a response. She did not expect the cold fury that ignited or the speed with which it acted. Sarah felt her eyes shift and her mouth open.

"No,"the land stated implacably, the double echo clear in Sarah's voice.

The Queen stiffened,"Who speaks?"she demanded, outraged.

"We do,"the land said." We do."

Several courtiers clutched at their throats, all female and all Earth. The land's answer echoed around the room from several throats and the Queen paled. Her advisors were frozen beside her and Sarah smiled grimly as fear flared in every courtier's eye as the audience hall trembled slightly. All of these people were part of the land, used it regularly for their own spells. All of them bowed their heads to a land-bonded Queen, but Sarah wondered if any of them truly understood the land. Truly understood the sentient nature of the force they took for granted.

Sarah felt the land cold and watchful in her mind as the Queen stood carefully and bowed slowly, oathbound to sworn lord. Around the room her subjects followed her example and Sarah felt the land retreat, satisfied. Personally she was not certain the issue had bee resolved, but it had done what she needed. She would have to be happy with that.

When the Queen straightened she searched Sarah's face for a long moment, then bent her head stiffly.

"Champion," she acknowledged.

Sarah returned the courtesy, then tilted her head. "I have a compromise that may answer to both our needs."

Resentment flickered for a moment in ageless eyes, then resignation. She retook her throne and gestured impatiently.

"Are you familiar with the concept of an Embassy, your majesty?" Sarah asked.

The Queen relaxed reflexively at the use of the courtesy, then tilted her head with mute inquiry.

"It is a human concept,"Sarah said." Essentially, a piece of land is chosen and is accepted - in law - as foreign soil. Anything that happens there is considered to take place in the home country. Plus, the direct representatives of the foreign power are granted immunity from prosecution for crimes that take place on host soil. It prevents...misunderstandings."

The Queen dropped her expressionless mask and regarded Sarah with outraged incredibility. "Do you say you wish me to allow you a bastion of Goblin sovereignty within my kingdom?"

Sarah considered the likely fact that Jareth was going to kill her.

"It resolves the issue before us, does it not?" Sarah asked cautiously.

The Queen opened her mouth, eyes flashing. Then she paused. A thoughtful look crossed her face and the look she cast toward Sarah was shrewd.

"And what does the host Kingdom receive in return for such largesse?" the Queen asked dryly.

"Normally an implied promise of reciprocity," Sarah answered honestly.

The Queen's eyes widened slightly. Oh yeah. Deader than dead. In fact, from Gavin's slight inhalation behind her, she had the feeling his goblin majesty was going to have a royal cow. She wracked her brain for benefits that might mean something.

"Humans usually use Embassies to provide assistance to their own citizens traveling in that country, but they have been known to act as free trade zones."

"Do you plan then to sell Despair?"the Queen asked sarcastically.

Sarah allowed herself a slight smile," No, but Jareth has plans to reopen the trade routes to the Endless Sea and the Dwarven Kingdom."

This time, the Queen's startled motion was one of intense interest. She ran her eyes slowly down Sarah's body, pausing briefly on the bone blades on her forearms. "I see," she said softly. Her eyes flicked once more to Gavin and Sarah had the feeling she saw something more than Sarah could understand.

"I see,"the Queen said again, her voice gaining conviction. She eyed Sarah with unexpected humor," And am I to assume you have a location already picked out for this...Embassy?"

Sarah flushed guiltily and the Queen's sudden smile was only gently malicious. "Map, please," she said suddenly.

The page instantly ran from the room. When he returned he was carrying a large wooden tube bigger than he was. A snap of her fingers and a large table appeared before the throne. Two advisors leapt to unroll the map and the Queen pursed her lips as she eyed the map thoughtfully.

"Come here, child," she said absently." Show me the area you wish to claim."

Given the differences in their ages, and the fact she was barely out of diapers as far as the Sidhe were concerned, Sarah wasn't offended anymore than she was when Jiann called her 'child'. She walked to the table and studied the map carefully. She traced a finger around the contaminated area of the waterfront, her heart sinking as she saw the true size. Compared to the Kingdom in total it was a small area, but it was still nearly one hundred acres of prime real estate.

The Queen's nose wrinkled," Yes, of course." She eyed Sarah with concern."That area is badly contaminated. I would be grateful to see it reclaimed, in spite of the cold iron that surrounds it. Yet...do you realize just how badly the land is injured? Even with Earth mages..." She shook her head.

Before Sarah could reply, Gavin leaned forward slightly,"If I might suggest...?"

The Queen gestured a short affirmative.

"Sarah is Fire," Gavin said simply.

Sarah waited for a roll of the eyes but she got a suddenly intent look of interest.

"Of course,"the Queen murmured.

"If you have someone who could instruct her..."Gavin said respectfully.

The Queen's gaze went distant. "It has been many years since we have seen any of Fire, let alone a Child of the element. However, the dwarves still practice a magic that is akin." She refocused and nodded sharply. "Your suggestion is a worthy one, half-blood."

Gavin did not react to the unthinking insult and Sarah realized he expected nothing else. Had probably heard a similar label all his life. She wanted to be insulted on his behalf but unhappily concluded that this was not the time, and probably not the place. First she had to get her Embassy. She could worry about starting a civil war another day.

"Your Majesty,"one of the advisors interjected with concern,"that area is held by Lord Belcraven."

"Is it?"the Queen asked mildly.

The advisor flushed but did not drop his gaze. Sarah was torn. On the one hand, she was delighted to jab pins into the perverted son-of-a-bitch. However, she was really hoping this wouldn't erupt into war. At least until she could shift. She wondered idly how the Queen would react if Sarah stepped on Belcraven. Although, given the response she had just given Belcraven's little sycophant, maybe she was doing a little stepping of her own.

"It will be done,"the Queen said abruptly. She met Sarah's eyes,"Meet me there at midnight and we will walk the border."

Astonished at such a sudden decision and uncertain how to respond, Sarah bowed. It seemed to be the correct response. The Queen inclined her head and the table disappeared. She swept out of the hall and as courtiers trickled away Sarah wondered if the entire meeting had been set up to deal with one recalcitrant Champion, or if the Queen needed time to beat her advisors into submission. None of them had looked happy with her decision.

A cough behind her brought her around and she saw the same messenger who had come to fetch them to the Court. He held up another crystal."If you are ready to depart?"he said politely.

Sarah looked at the empty audience hall and snorted. She nodded and the messenger cracked the crystal.


	16. Chapter 16

Sarah scratched at her nose and wondered if she had guessed wrong where the Queen would appear. Neither Gavin nor Dennis were particularly bothered by cold iron but if Jareth's sensitivity was anywhere close to normal for Sidhe, the Queen was going to want to avoid most of the buildings. Taking a gamble, she had chosen to wait by the oak in the courtyard.

A slight breeze whipped through the courtyard and when it died away, the Queen stepped out of the shadows. Sarah was surprised to see that she was alone and she was glad she had impulsively told Dennis and Gavin to stay behind. The approving look on the Queen's face when she saw Sarah was also alone told Sarah that her instinct had been correct. She bowed in welcome.

The Queen returned the bow, then turned a sad look on the oak. She laid her hand gently against it and her face took on the same listening look Dennis had worn earlier.

"Do you hear it?"the Queen asked softly.

Sarah shook her head.

"Of all my elemental magics, I think the conversation of trees pleases me the most,"the Queen said after a moment of contemplation. "I am glad there will be people to hear his voice once more. He has been lonely."

Sarah blinked, startled. Before she could think of something to say, the Queen turned to look at the corrupted landscape around them. It was a bleak scene in daylight. The desolation brought out by moonlight was painful to Sarah and she was Fire. She couldn't imagine what it must be like for a land-bonded Queen of Earth.

"It barely feels me,"the Queen said sadly.

But beneath the regret was a cold fury that Sarah did not think was aimed at her. The Queen's next words confirmed it.

"There will be an accounting for this."

Sarah didn't ask who was going to pay.

Without another word the Queen gestured for Sarah to take the lead. Starting at the farthest corner next to the water Sarah could only be glad that she had already had a chance to walk the boundary during the day. She could still smell the scent trail they had left and at a gesture from the Queen, she retraced her steps. A crystal in the Queen's hand began to glow as they walked.

From the water to the overpass, along the highway until they reached old railway tracks, then another twenty feet past until turning back toward the water. Every step of the way the glow of the crystal slowly increased in brightness until it was almost blinding by the time they reached their starting point. The Queen was looking drawn by its light and Sarah could only assume the iron leached into the ground from the tracks, plus the tracks themselves had been painful.

"Perhaps it is best we do this by the oak,"the Queen said shortly.

Sarah agreed, slightly confused. She followed the Queen to the tree and the Queen smiled tightly.

"It will be easier, I think, to do this while the land sleeps."

She held out her hand and Sarah took it without thinking. Then the Queen brought her other hand around swiftly and smashed the crystal into Sarah's palm. It shattered with a silent explosion and Sarah heard her own scream echoed by the Queen as she felt something tear. Then the Goblin Kingdom surged into her mind, joy and welcome flooding her mind. It bounced around her body like a hysterical puppy and she groaned. Instantly the land quieted, but the joy continued to glow in her mind, clean and clear even through the muddy sluggishness of the land beneath her feet.

Without immediately realizing what she did, her mind swept out and she found she could trace the edges of the Goblin Kingdom in her head and they matched the line she had just walked. She staggered a bit drunkenly, a reaction to the euphoria still pouring through her and unable to resist, she finally gave herself up to it.

When she finally returned to herself, it was only a couple hours from dawn. The land let itself be cuddled, then slowly withdrew from her mind until it was mostly an almost imperceptible presence in the back of her mind. It was similar to the way it had felt in the Goblin Kingdom only stronger. The sense of distance was gone and she could feel the sickness of the land beneath her like an ache in the bones. She opened her eyes to see the Queen sitting against the tree, watching her expressionlessly.

"The Goblin Kingdom is very...enthusiastic,"the Queen said finally.

Sarah grunted. "Very."

She eased herself to a sitting position. "I did not know you intended to do that."

The Queen frowned,"How else could you claim sovereignty?"

Sarah sighed," I didn't think it through, obviously." She crawled to her feet." You okay?"

The Queen grimaced," I feel the traitor. It hurt, but in truth the rest of my kingdom is healthier for the amputation."

Without thinking, Sarah offered her hand. The Queen looked at her startled, then gripped it firmly and let Sarah pull her to her feet.

"It is my understanding that you are obligated to human responsibilities this night," the Queen said hesitantly. Sarah blinked, then realized she meant her shift at the station. She nodded, impressed with the Queen's sources of information.

"I would be pleased to offer the hospitality of my Court to your King when he arrives," the Queen offered almost hesitantly.

Sarah blinked again,"Jareth is coming?"she asked, still feeling slow and stupid.

The Queen eyed the land around them."I suspect he will be curious,"she said dryly.

Sarah nodded, "I'll tell him."

With that, the Queen bowed slightly, wrapped herself in shadow, and disappeared. Sarah thought longingly of the car she had left out by the overpass. Staggering in that general direction she had mostly recovered by the time she reached her car. She was exhausted, but it was nothing a large breakfast and a good four hours sleep wouldn't cure.

Pulling into her parking spot, all she could think about was breakfast. When she heard the slight scuffle coming from the bushes she almost ignored it. Unfortunately, the next scuffle was accompanied by the slightest hint of magic. Sarah moaned and swiveled on her heel. She did not scent Unseelie. Just that elusive whisper of magic accompanied by a hint of greenness and a lot of fear. She didn't bother to draw her sword. Whoever it was, was terrified enough.

She almost didn't see her. The lights lining the sidewalk were bright but her body seemed to merge with the shadows. She was dressed in a torn t-shirt and dirty jeans and Sarah's mouth tightened when she caught a glimpse of terrified eyes and bruises on the woman's hands and face.

"Do you know who I am?" Sarah asked gently.

The woman just stared.

"Do you need help?"Sarah asked, feeling a bit stupid asking the obvious but wanting to give the woman a chance to answer.

She didn't think the woman had been raped, she did not smell blood or semen, but the woman had definitely been in a fight. Sarah didn't want to scare her by reaching out to her but when five minutes passed without the woman taking her eyes off Sarah's face she decided to take a chance. Slowly extending her hand, alert for any frightened protest, Sarah turned her hand palm up and held it steady. A minute and the woman dropped her eyes to Sarah's hand. Another two minutes of careful observation and the woman slowly reached her hand forward and gripped Sarah's hand gently.

She let Sarah pull her from the bushes and kept a tight hold as Sarah opened the door to the building and led her upstairs. Jenner widened her eyes and the woman looked her over curiously. Apparently she was not a threat because she ignored her after that and stood quietly until Sarah led her into the living room. She gave a silent cry, her mouth opening in apparent delight when she saw the moss. Letting go of Sarah's hand she ran forward and fell to her knees, petting the floor where it grew. She looked up at Sarah and grinned with evident delight.

Sarah was about to ask if she needed to call the police when the woman curled up on the moss and went to sleep. Sarah stared at her open-mouthed, then looked at an unconcerned Jenner. The housekeeper looked down at the woman then disappeared into the kitchen. When she returned, she was carrying a large pitcher of water. She placed it carefully beside the woman, then went back to serving breakfast.

Reminded of her own aches and bruises, Sarah ate her breakfast hurriedly. She had to be at the station by ten and if she slept a full four hours she was barely going to have time to get to work. She spared a single glance at the woman then shrugged and crawled into bed.


	17. Chapter 17

Sarah stared blurrily into her coffee and wondered if it was possible to die from caffeine overload. Mike had his head pillowed on his arms and she wasn't absolutely certain Julian wasn't asleep on his feet over by the coffee-maker. Dobbs was staring silently at the wall and everyone pretended not to notice the tears running down Eric's face as he kept his head bent over his coffee mug.

It had been a bad day.

The first two fires had been relatively harmless. The first, a case of spontaneous combustion due the carbonization of the wooden cupboard above a toaster plugged unsafely directly underneath, had been relatively harmless. A lot of smoke damage and the kitchen was a write-off, but no one died. The second was probably arson. Luckily the construction site kept security guards on the payroll. The woman noticed the smoke and called it in before it had time to spread to the unfinished apartment building. Again, no one died.

The third fire started in the basement of a single townhouse and when the trucks got there, it had already burned through the wall to the next building. The kids in the fourth building started screaming just as their mother screeched into the driveway, ignored the yells of firefighters and ran into the house. Sarah and Dobbs were preparing to go into the third building when the heard Eric shout over the radio and disappear into the house after the mother, Mike right behind him.

Sarah and Dobbs raced for the third building, desperately knocking down flames in an effort to buy Eric some time. They didn't get ten feet inside the door when the BBQ tank stored in the basement exploded. The blast turned the tank into a missile and it went through the fire weakened first floor barely even slowing down. Just dumb luck Sarah or Dobbs weren't standing in front of it. As it was, they almost crashed through the floor as the support beams collapsed.

It wasn't until they heard Eric's voice screaming for medics that they realized the tank had punched its way through the tissue thin wall separating the town homes. Just dumb luck, Sarah thought numbly. Dumb luck that a woman holding a baby was running down the stairs at the same time a missile came through the drywall and took off her head. It would be a few hours before they knew if the baby died in the fall. Eric had been right behind the mother, carrying the baby's ten year old sister.

Just fucking dumb luck.

They had put out the fire and returned to fill out the paperwork. The late shift had been called in early and there were still questions to answer. Investigators who would want to pick over the 'whys' and 'what happeneds'. Mandated counseling for everyone directly involved.

She didn't bother to turn around when Julian lifted his head and stared over her head toward the door. Sarah didn't care who was behind her, unless they had drinkable coffee. Then they could stay. Dobbs frowned and then Mike joined him, staring at the door with a slightly puzzled look. It was when Dobbs lifted his eyebrows and looked at Sarah that she began to get mildly curious. Whoever it was was being damn quiet for a psyche counselor. She turned her head.

She didn't remember standing. Nor did she care what the guys thought. She pushed her face against his throat and felt his arms close around her. His head came down until his cheek rested against the side of her head and she closed her eyes. It didn't occur to her until later that the guys were unusually quiet. Too soon she sniffed and leaned back. She gave him a watery smile.

"I'm getting you all smoky,"she said.

Jareth shrugged and touched her cheek."What else should I expect from a Child of Fire?"

His eyes darkened slightly and he let his gaze rest lightly on the men behind her. There was a scrape as Mike stood and she could have groaned as she heard him ask Jareth if he'd like a cup of coffee. She loved them, she really did, but they had a collective age of twelve some days and given the need for a distraction, today was going to be that day.

She stepped back reluctantly, then felt her eyes widen and she took another step back to get the full effect. Oh hell. Mismatched eyes gleamed with a hint of malicious glee and she felt the overwhelming urge to hit him. Or kiss him. Mostly something that involved pain, though.

Sexy bastard did these things to her on purpose.

Ripped blue jeans and bright red t-shirt. Black motorcycle boots and black leather jacket. Red sparkly color threaded through his blond hair. Good lord. He looked like a reject from an eighties rock band. Okay, maybe not a reject. Lead singer maybe. Yep. He had that slightly jaded look down pat. Oh hell, maybe they could pass him off as a musician from England. No way around that accent. And he did sing after all.

As long as he didn't threaten to dump anyone into the Bog of Stench, they should be fine.

"So..."Roberts said after Jareth took a seat.

Sarah glared at her fellow firefighter. He coughed, then pretended not to see her.

"So..."he said again,"you know Sarah."

"Very well,"Jareth replied politely.

Roberts was not attractive with his mouth hanging open. She could see the question scurry behind his eyes like a manic gerbil. How well did Jareth know her? Dobbs was staring at Jareth with a strange look on his face and his eyes were moving uncertainly between Sarah and the Goblin King.

"Should we be asking your intentions?"Julian asked suddenly, trying for a joke. His timing was off and it fell flat, but Sarah forgave him. It had been one hell of a day.

Jareth smiled slightly."I have already laid my kingdom at her feet," he said mildly.

Mike snorted. "Kingdom, huh."

"Of course."

Most of the guys were starting to smile, but Dobbs was still staring at Jareth with a look of fixed curiosity.

"So you're a king, are you?"Julian smirked.

"The Goblin King,"Jareth replied calmly, ignoring the heel Sarah slammed into the top of his boot. He turned his head and smiled toothily at her.

Sarah faked an amused chuckle, "Come to carry me away have you?"

Jareth tilted his head,"Would it work?"

"No."

Jareth sighed theatrically," Alas, see how she spurns my affections?"

Roberts grinned at Sarah gleefully,"You could always lock her in the dungeons."

Sarah glared,"I could always lock you in the dungeons. "

Roberts twisted his hands in mock terror,"Ohhh...I'm so scared. I've offended the Goblin Queen."

Sarah sniffed, then watched with concern as Dobbs choked on his coffee. Mike leaned away from the coffee sprayed across the table. Julian sighed and dropped a handful of paper towel in front of Dobbs. Mike looked at Jareth with interest as Dobbs wiped up the coffee. "Do they even have dungeons anymore?"

A gleam flashed in Jareth's eyes and Sarah didn't like the look in his eyes. Come to think of it, she still had to tell him about what she had done.

"We have dungeons,"Jareth said agreeably.

"I'd prefer an oubliette," Sarah muttered.

She didn't expect anyone to hear her. Jareth seemed to miss the comment. Only Mike heard what she said and his sudden wicked laugh caught her by surprise.

"Dark? Private? Chains on the wall?"he asked straight-faced.

The image tickled her memory and she snickered before she could help herself. "What more does a modern girl need?" she shot back, forgetting the owner of said oubliette was sitting beside her. Luckily he seemed to have missed the reference. Mike, whose sword and sorcery novels replete with writhing naked women in chains were the butt of many a stationhouse joke, grinned evilly. He kept his eyes on Sarah, then raised his voice.

"So Jareth..."Mike said innocently," if this is some sort of fairy kingdom, shouldn't you offer to carry her off on a unicorn?"

Sarah rolled her eyes.

Jareth regarded Mike as if mildly surprised. "Unicorn? I should say not." He smiled benignly," Not much point in owning an oubliette if one can ride a unicorn,"he said smoothly.

So smoothly it took Mike, the master of the unsubtle, a few seconds to realize what he had said. The manic gerbil made an instant reappearance but before he could think of a come-back, Jareth turned to eye Sarah with a wicked smile.

"Speaking of horses..."

It took her a minute to understand, and another to realize he was serious.

"Are you insane?"she yelped. "This is New York."

Jareth shrugged, but the gleam in his eyes didn't abate."It has sidewalks. They have feet..."

She was out the door before he finished the sentence. A freight train hit her in the chest and she gasped even as she wrapped her arms around Storm's neck. The mare pushed her broad face into Sarah's chest demanding to know why she had been gone so long. Then the words were gone and it was only love and loneliness, friendship and fear pouring through her mind. Sarah heard herself babbling as she tried to reassure the mare she hadn't intended to be gone so long, it had just happened.

The mare gave a mental sniff. Colt will be big before you get to meet him.

Sarah blinked,Colt? You had a ...

She whirled on Jareth who had walked up behind her and whacked him across the chest. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He rubbed his chest with annoyance." You were the one who failed to contact me, my love."

Sarah growled,"Don't you 'my love' me you...you..."

Jareth grinned and caught her upraised hand. Then he gripped the back of her neck with the other and kissed her. Forgetting the firefighters watching open-mouthed behind him she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Her eyes had bled to silver when he finally pulled back and he smiled wryly,"I had intended our greeting to be a bit less public, Sarah."

She was seriously tempted to tell everyone to go to hell and pull him into the storage closet. She actually gave some contemplation as to whether Jareth knew a sound absorber spell. He was Air. Surely he knew something useful.

"What are you thinking about so seriously, my love?"

She eyed his outfit."Wondering how fast I can get you out of those jeans,"she answered honestly.

Jareth's eyes widened slightly and she saw the slight smirk starting.

"One remark about horny humans and you will regret it,"she warned him.

He nodded sagely."Would you ban me from your bed then? I hear that is traditional. Although..."his smirk widened,"it does seem like a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater."

He seemed pleased with himself for successfully using the human phrase. Sarah let her own grin widen dangerously.

"Worse,"she said ominously." I'll get Jenner to make you do dishes."


	18. Chapter 18

Jareth could have transported them directly to her building. Instead, when Captain Meredith informed them that the counseling sessions had been post-poned until the next day and sent them all home early, Sarah climbed into Storm's saddle and turned her in the right direction. They were lucky the horses could move along the crowded sidewalks. There was definitely no room to ride side by side. Still, Sarah felt herself relaxing as she settled into the rhythm of Storm's steady walk.

Jareth's stallion - whose name translated to Proud Dancer - paced silently behind them and Sarah was grateful Jareth made no effort to talk. She could feel him behind her, and for the first time she felt his magic and understood what she was feeling. She couldn't have stopped it if she wanted to. Her matrix shifted and flowed toward him until the edges overlapped. She had thought she understood what it meant to work with Air.

But where Gavin's matrix supported hers, Jareth's...meshed.

Individual fields wove together, strengthening and combining until she could draw on his strength almost as if were her own...and he could do the same. But it was not an erasing of individuality. It was freedom. Weak spots in her matrix, things she lacked, were present in his matrix. Gaps in his field were filled by her strength. Magic flowed smoothly, crossing easily places where the gaps had threatened to give way and she understood, in a visceral way, why balanced pairs were so effective. It was addictive, this feeling, and she finally understood why everyone thought he had risked Despair to experience it.

Why he had been convinced a Child of Fire could safeguard his kingdom.

Not just her power. Not just the dragon. It was this, what they could call together. She realized for the first time what the Children of Air had been condemned to, when the last of Fire burned in the desert. She had never understood before, how he could have hungered so deeply that the land would have acted on that unspoken hunger. She wondered how many years she would have lasted before she noticed the lack in those of Air around her.

Worse, she at least would have had the possibility of finding a Child of Earth. Not the perfect compliment, but close enough to promise some balance. Jareth's near compliment was Water, and Sidhe rarely gave birth to Water. With the example of the part-blood selkies before her, she wondered now if the Water mages had been lost when the Desert swallowed the Outer Kingdoms. Had they given up during the grueling journey overland?

She was still musing on this possibility when Storm came to a halt, uncertain if she should move into the parking lot or across the street to the field she could clearly sense - in spite of the shields that still obscured the park. They were waiting until school let out for the summer to drop the visual shields. Hopefully, the influx of children from the neighborhood would obscure the part-blood students coming for lessons.

Sarah was determined to get the Embassy land cleansed to the point where the part-blood could be protected on Goblin land. She had a feeling the Court might be a bit perturbed when they discovered that human mages were not the only sort they were training. She dismounted and tagged both horses with community member tags and let them go at the gate. She turned to find Jareth eyeing the dragon guardians with a bemused expression on his face.

She gave him a weak smile.

Three steps into her apartment, Jareth had to jump to avoid crashing into her. She stood rooted to the ground and stared in astonishment. Her living room had grown a tree. She took a cautious step forward, stopping when her foot hit stone. The moss had completely covered the floor, leaving a pathway of what appeared to be stone around the tree and branching off to her bedroom, the dining room, and the bathroom. Sarah regarded the rather incongruous sight of her bright red sofa sitting in the middle of what appeared to be a sunlit forest glade.

She paused.

Sunlit?

She tilted her head back and considered the skylight in her ceiling gravely. Sure. Skylights. She was on the first floor, but what the hell, she had a tree growing in her living room so she supposed it made sense. It wasn't until she got close enough to see the trunk of the tree that she realized she was staring at the naked body of the woman from the night before.

The woman's arms were raised; her back arched sensuously as she spread her fingers toward the sun. Those fingers stretched into leafy branches and when she looked down at the woman's feet, she could see the toes rooted into the floor. Jareth stepped past, his eyes focused with delight on the tree-woman. He circled her several times and Sarah felt a wistful regret that he had never looked at her with such captivation.

"Wherever did you find a Dryad?" he asked finally.

Sarah shrugged," She found me. Last night. I didn't know she was a tree."

Jareth looked at her with horror," She is not a tree, Sarah. She is a Dryad." he peered at her face intently. "A half-blood if I'm not mistaken. It is hard to tell. Dryads tend to breed true." He studied her feet with a contemplative look." They are all but extinct in the Underground. They stayed to hold back Despair in the final days. Their nature allowed them to cleanse the land and hold it stable. That many survived at all was due in part to their sacrifice."

"Well, someone beat the crap out of her. I found her bruised and hiding in the bushes," Sarah told him, staring at the Dryad thoughtfully.

Jareth straightened slowly, eyes hard. "Beaten?" he asked softly.

Sarah shuddered reflexively at the cold menace in his voice.

It wasn't magic.

"I need to talk to you about the part-bloods, Jareth."

Gold flickered in his eyes, then died. However, his eyes remained flat and Sarah had no doubt the Goblin King planned to go hunting this evening. Before she could say anything, Jenner stepped into dining room and placed a large roast in the center of the table. Roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes followed her, settling on the table. Fairies flit about arranging silverware and lighting candles. Sarah raised an eyebrow at the extra effort but said nothing.

Jareth stepped around the Dryad only to freeze in shock. His anger fell away and he stared open-mouthed at Jenner who was studiously ignoring him.

"You did not tell me you had been adopted by a brownie,"Jareth said, barely above a whisper.

Sarah blinked. Was that what Jenner was? More tales and folk legends flit through her memory.

"But I can see her,"Jareth said, confusion in his voice.

Jenner stilled, then rushed into the kitchen. Sarah was moving before she realized she intended to run. Dashing into the kitchen she half expected to find it empty. Instead, she found Jenner attacking the dishes furiously by hand. She didn't look up although Sarah knew she had heard her. She debated what to say, then realized nothing she said would do a damn thing. In memory she heard the unthinking distain as the Queen calling Gavin a half-blood.

She grabbed Jenner in a hug before she could teleport anywhere and kissed her on the cheek. Jenner squeaked and Sarah danced back, grinning.

"Couldn't do that if I couldn't see you,"she said smugly.

Jenner stared with her mouth open, dishes forgotten. Sarah started to lean on the counter, remembering the toadstools just in time. Jenner gave her an evil glare.

"What?"Sarah protested,"They're okay."

Jenner let out an annoyed huff, then dropped her eyes to the floor.

"Half-blood,"she finally admitted grudgingly.

"Join the club,"Sarah said cheerfully."Everyone else around me seems to be a part-blood of some sort. Even his foot-in-mouth majesty out there. Except the spider. I'd say the spider is a pureblood. And if it's not, I really really don't want to know about it."

Jenner sniffed.

"Want me to slap him for you?"Sarah asked helpfully.

Jenner looked horrified.

"Actually, I suspect he's feeling pretty damn bad right about now. He's an arrogant ass sometimes, but he didn't mean that the way it sounded."

Jenner sighed,"I know. Knowed it when he said it. It's just..."she shrugged helplessly.

Sarah nodded,"Yeah. I wish I could say I understand, but the truth is, except for the whole Labyrinth thing, I had a pretty normal childhood. Jareth is the one who really understands."

Jenner sniffed again, this time distainfully,"That one?"

Sarah shrugged,"It's a matter of degree. The Inner Kingdoms may not care how close you stand to the bloodline, but they care about power. And for the longest time, they thought Jareth didn't have enough."

Jenner didn't respond, but Sarah could see she knew the details.

"You know how the Court says "half-blood' in that dismissive, contemptuous way?"Sarah asked.

Jenner's eyes flickered.

"That's how the Inner Kingdoms said 'Goblin King',"Sarah told her, remembered anger turning her voice hard.

Jenner searched Sarah's face for a long moment, looking for the truth. Then her shoulders straightened."They be fools, them."

She turned back to the stove and dumped a dozen Yorkshire puddings on a plate and stomped out to the table. She placed the plate carefully on the table and turned to look at Jareth with a challenging look in her eye. Jareth was sitting on the sofa with the spider curled in his arms like a cat. He continued to pet the spider, peering up at Jenner through his eyelashes and looking about as abashed as it was possible for someone to be. Then he carefully placed the spider on the sofa and got to his feet. After a moment he made a low, graceful bow of abject apology. Jenner blinked in astonishment, then looked at Sarah and raised an eyebrow.

"He be a fine pretty thing, don't he?"

Then she stomped back into the kitchen leaving Jareth to gaze after her. Then he turned to Sarah for a translation. She shrugged.

"Don't ask me. I think it was a compliment," Sarah said doubtfully, then watched as the spider sprang off the sofa and scurry into the bedroom. She shuddered.

"Rule number one,"she said firmly."No spiders in the bed."

Jareth looked confused,"She would not harm you, Sarah."

Sarah shuddered again, a sudden image of rolling over to rest her head on his chest and finding it occupied real estate."Consider it a primitive human reflex and leave it at that. She's pretty - in a spider sort of way. I'm happy she feels safe here. I can live with her in the bedroom. But absolutely no spiders in my bed. You can pet the spider on the sofa while you admire the Dryad."

Jareth opened his mouth. She pointed at him in warning.

"It's me or the spider, Jareth."

Disgruntled, he gave her a petulant look and declined to respond.

After supper, the events of the evening and the long day caught up with her. She was still feeling bruised and she suspected she had stressed her matrix the night before as the bruises felt more psychic than physical. She started yawning almost immediately. Jareth trailed after her, but she suspected he just planned to reclaim the spider. She should have gotten a shower before she ate. She kicked herself as it occurred to her that if he joined her, Jareth would be sharing the covers with a sweaty, smoky, firefighter.

Not the most romantic of impressions, damn it.

Knowing she had maybe five minutes before she passed out, she gave a mental sigh of regret and dropped her clothes in the laundry hamper. She was too tired to worry if she had shaved her legs although hopefully her deodorant held out. Yep, points for feeling attractive just piling up. She was crawling under the covers when she remembered the Queen's invitation.

"You've got a dinner invitation to the Court," she mumbled.

She felt the bed dip as Jareth sat beside her. She sighed with pleasure as her ran his fingers gently through her hair, then remembered the day she had just had.

"Helmet hair,"she protested.

She heard him chuckle softly, but the fingers didn't stop.

"You need to go,"she told him.

"Tommorrow,"he said quietly.

And that was how she was going to spend her first night with Jareth in almost two years. With the Goblin King finger-combing her sticky hair, hairy legs, and a naked woman in her living room.

Oh...and a spider the size of a beach ball singing in the corner.


	19. Chapter 19

There was something lowering about coming second to a spider.

She slept until midnight and she considered that she must have really stressed her matrix. Strangely, she felt great. In fact, her matrix shimmered with depth and clarity, as if the land pouring through her had burned away an obscuring layer she had not even been aware existed. Jareth looked up from the sofa, his hand pausing on the spider to give her a considering look. She felt his matrix brush lightly against hers. She saw his eyebrows shoot up in surprise, then he smiled with a strange air of satisfaction.

He went back to petting the spider.

Dennis and Gavin were no better. They flanked Jareth on the sofa, both of them staring with fixed interest at the Dryad. Gavin glanced at her briefly, acknowledged that she was alive, then went back to staring at the tree-woman. Muttering under her breath about males in general - and Sidhe in specific - she stumbled off to the bathroom.

One shower later, feeling fully human - or a reasonable facsimile - she pulled on jeans and t-shirt and wandered out to the kitchen. Jenner had left a plate of Sarah's favorite sandwiches in the fridge and she was unprepared for the way three sets of male eyes swiveled in her direction when she stepped into the dining room.

"What?"she asked, glancing to see if she had dropped something on her t-shirt.

"Among the Sidhe it is considered courteous to feed your guests,"Jareth said politely.

She scowled,"Your arms broken?"

Dennis flinched and shot a quick glance at Jareth. Clearly he feared she was about to be turned into a toad, however Sarah had worked in too many male-dominated stationhouses to find herself relegated to kitchen duty by three half-blood fairy tales. No matter how good-looking. She smiled sweetly and chomped down on her sandwich.

Gavin scowled,"The fridge wouldn't open."

Sarah started to laugh, choking slightly when she inhaled crumbs. She looked at Jareth,"Jenner spell the cupboards closed too?"

His lips twitched,"Apparently her admiration for my pretty self failed when confronted by her loyalty to your stomach."

"More like she didn't want you messing with her kitchen,"Sarah said unsympathetically.

Jenner must have decided to take pity on them once Sarah had her midnight snack. As soon as she finished the last sandwich, the air above the dining room table rippled and a huge tray piled high with chocolate chip cookies appeared. Since not even Sarah could eat that many cookies - well, not all at once anyway - she assumed the guys were invited to snack. Gavin was across the room, hands closing on the tray, before she had a chance to grab one. Obviously wary of the wrath of Jenner, he bowed and offered her the tray. Once she selected half a dozen however, he was back on the sofa and all three were staking claim to a couple dozen each.

Apparently not even the Goblin King stood on dignity when cookies were involved.

Idly studying the three men, Sarah was struck by how different Jareth looked compared to the other two half-bloods. Dennis had some of the same delicacy of feature that characterized the Sidhe, but neither he nor Gavin possessed that alien otherness that seemed so much a part of the Goblin King. Once, when she was playing with his hair, Jareth had commented the rough texture and spiky tendencies were a throwback to earlier times when the Sidhe had been closer to the Wild Magic. It was more a hallmark of strong magic than human blood, but something in the half-blood mix of genes allowed it to express itself.

After seeing the Queen at her worst, and stripped of glamour, she had to admit the legendary eldritch beauty of the Sidhe had more substance than she had originally thought. But that cold, porcelain grace was as different from Jareth's feral attitude and predatory intensity as Jareth's pale skin and facial markings were to Gavin's solid strength and whipcrack reflexes. Oddly, Dennis and Gavin both looked and felt mostly human in spite of the fact they had been raised to the Court.

She wondered if the Sidhe who had remained Above were of a different racial type than those in the Underground.

Gavin climbed to his feet, breaking into her musings,"I've got some work to do on the shields before morning. Donald and I will be working on getting the paperwork for the land purchase finalized. We'll be spending most of the day at City Hall. I'll keep my cell phone on."

Sarah nodded and smiled her thanks. Dennis sent one wistful look at the Dryad, then trailed after Gavin.

"When you get a chance, we need more heater spells,"Dennis said, hand on the door."I've found an alternate that will be a bit more energy intensive, but longer living and much more flexible."

Sarah quirked an eyebrow with interest and promised to come over after his afternoon class was finished. There was a tense silence behind her when the door closed.

"You do not hold their oaths, Sarah."

She spun around, surprised by the unexpected anger in his voice.

"That is not well done of you, Champion,"Jareth stated, his face set with disapproval. "You take their loyalty without offering your protection. It is not what I would have expected."

Guilt flared and she took refuge in anger." Well how the hell was I supposed to know that?"

"I should think it would be obvious,"Jareth snapped. "Your ties to the land would have provided the information."

Sarah did not like feeling trapped - especially when she was wrong. And she had a habit of setting fire to the ship she was standing on when she was feeling guilty. He was right. She knew he was right. She stalked over to the sofa and grabbed a cookie. She stuffed it into her mouth before something unfortunate fell out. Finally she dropped down next to him and scrubbed at her face with her hands.

"I just..."she gestured helplessly,"I didn't know the implications."

Jareth frowned."They have offered their service and you have accepted. If they are not willing to swear oath, then that is their right. But for men such as these...in all honor you must offer, Sarah."

Sarah looked at him unhappily,"They're half-bloods, Jareth. What if the Court retaliates because they swore to me?"

Jareth sighed,"The way the upper Kingdoms view half-bloods is a problem. Yes, the Queen could take offense. If she chooses, she could demand they return to the Goblin Kingdom with you, but in truth Sarah, they have risked that the moment they took it upon themselves to teach you to fight. It was unlikely, but the risk existed. The minute they went beyond that service they declared their loyalties. Would you leave them without a place to call home?"

"That's not fair, Jareth."

He started to reply, then nodded,"Perhaps."He brooded on the situation for a moment, then nodded again, grudgingly."I fear I blame you for something that is as much my responsibility as yours. I did not expect you to take such steps, nor to do so much, so quickly. "

"Then you wouldn't mind?"Sarah asked tentatively.

Jareth tilted his head."It is not for me to dictate, Sarah. Your choices are your own. As long as you choose with honor, it is your right to make those choices without my interference. Indeed, it is your responsibility to do so."

"Yes, but..."Sarah hesitated, trying to put her concern into words."They know who I am,"she said uneasily.

Jareth eyed her for a long moment."They know you are twice-bonded?"he asked slowly.

She winced,"Yes, and they were quite vocal about me being let loose without a keeper."

A slight smile pulled at Jareth's mouth, then disappeared,"Indeed?"

She gestured again,"Do you see the problem?"

Jareth blinked. "I see several potential problems. I doubt they are the ones you see."

Sarah sniffed,"Thank-you so much for telling me I was already effectively the Goblin Queen. But that's the problem. I don't know what being the Goblin Queen means, Jareth." She threw up her hands,"I'm making up the rules for being a Champion as I rush from one disaster to another."

Jareth raised an eyebrow,"Burning hobgoblins, I understand."

"Oh, you haven't heard the half of it,"Sarah admitted glumly.

"You weren't the only one with a headache this morning, Sarah."Jareth said dryly. "Do you care to explain why the Goblin Kingdom now extends into the Upper Kingdom?"

Sarah smiled nervously,"Please remember that I don't know what I'm doing, okay?"

"Sarah..."Jareth said with exasperation,"I had reasons for not informing you of certain things regarding your status. I am hardly likely to blame you for that ignorance. "

"Remember you said that,"Sarah muttered.

She gave him an encapsulated version of the last few weeks, starting with the hobgoblins and her confrontation with Belcraven and ending with the proposal for matching Embassies that the Queen had accepted. He had looked concerned, but relatively pleased about the hobgoblins. Thoughtful as he considered Belcraven. Resigned to the land's demands and shocked by the fact it had spoken directly to both the Triad and the Court in defense of the Earth mages. When she got to the part about the Embassy however, she didn't know whether she should offer him a drink or head for Mexico.

"Land! You offered...you...I..."Jareth sputtered. Then his eyes narrowed. "Free trade? You specifically said free trade?"

Sarah thought back,"Sort of. I said Embassies can act as free trade zones."

Jareth relaxed, then tapped the fingers of his right hand against his mouth."You promised access to the trade routes?"

Sarah grinned,"No, I said you were reopening the trade routes."

Jareth looked at her, astonished. Then he gave a shout of laughter and startled her with a hug. He grinned,"My devious human, do you know what you have done?"

Sarah sobered,"The implication was there that we would make some sort of accommodation using the free trade zones,"she warned.

Jareth waved his hands, unconcerned,"Yes, of course. But...do you have any idea what you have done?"

Sarah eyed him warily,"Promised diplomatic immunity to their ambassadors?"

Jareth paused thoughtfully,"Yes, that is something that will require attention, but it is not unprecedented."He shrugged,"The cost pales in significance next to what we have gained. Sarah - for the first time since the War of Destruction an Upper Kingdom makes formal alliance with the Underground. With the Goblin Kingdom no less. No matter what you might fear, you have done very well. Indeed, I am very pleased you did not know what you were doing."

Sarah snorted at that self-congratulatory assessment.

Jareth spent a few minutes thinking deeply, then sighed,"I fear we must address this issue with Belcraven, however."

Sarah shrugged,"He is not happy, but he has not done anything."

Jareth shook his head, expression serious."This involves your status within the Sidhe Court and why I was...so willing to let you run about without a keeper." He tapped his mouth again."We are not a fertile race, Sarah. The reason for that is very simple. Embryonic matrices are vulnerable. The land weaves the matrix into the developing embryo and if anything disturbs that weaving, the pregnancy ends in cellular death. It is also possible for the embryo to reject the matrix or for the mother's matrix to be incompatible with the matrix of the developing fetus and thus incapable of sustaining its continued growth."

Sarah stared at him,"You were serious, then. I literally couldn't carry a Water child."

"It is a physical impossibility,"Jareth said soberly." You will also have difficulty with Earth should those matrices be skewed to Water. Additionally, all your children will be powerful for the fact that any child with a weak matrix will be unable to signal its presence in time to keep from being pulled into your own. You are Fire; it is your nature to absorb energy. You will literally absorb the matrix of a child too weak to let you sense it. Once you can feel it, your instincts will protect it, but ...it would be unwise for you to allow any male with a weak matrix to father any of your children."

Jareth hesitated, as if there was something he was debating saying. Whatever it was, he decided against it. Instead, he returned to the original explanation.

"As a result of this lack of fertility, our children are protected by custom and law. Inflexible and unforgiving laws. Until a child reaches the age of reason, he or she is not legally considered an adult. As such, they are not subject to our Challenge laws and to conspire to injure one..."he shook his head.

Sarah began to get an uncomfortable feeling she knew where this was going.

"What is the age of reason?"she asked suspiciously.

"In theory, it is five years past the end of puberty,"Jareth said succinctly.

So...Sidhe didn't consider teen-agers rational either. Interesting. Sarah frowned as she realized how carefully Jareth had worded his answer.

"And what does that translate into in years?"

Jareth sighed,"That is the question. For Sidhe and some half-bloods? Forty mortal years. Part-bloods are more problematic. In the Underground we tend to use the same scale as a matter of custom."

"And in the Upper Kingdoms?"Sarah asked dryly.

Jareth shrugged,"The issue does not generally arise. There is some precedent, but nothing with the strength of custom. Technically, I should never have offered you Champion oath. That I did, opened the issue of your status as an adult. Most are prepared to overlook it as a ...misdemeanor. An axe wedding if you will, until such time as you matured. Then you proved you were bonded to the land."

Sarah tried to sift that statement for meaning, giving it up for a lost cause."You'll have to use big letters, Jareth. I have a headache."

He snorted."Indeed. Consider then, that children do not develop the ability to shift until they are past puberty and their matrices are mature. As such, they cannot be bonded to the land. Literally. Were the land so lost to reason as to make the attempt, the very act would tear the matrix beyond repair."

"But my matrix wasn't mature,"Sarah protested.

"It wasn't developed to its fullest potential,"Jareth corrected." It was mature years ago."He frowned,"Human matrices mature much faster than our own. I can only assume the land accommodated your human nature."

"So...I'm a child by custom, but an adult as far as the spirit of the law is concerned,"Sarah summarized.

"Essentially, yes. Custom dictated caution even after you demonstrated that you were land-bonded. The clearly vulnerable nature of your matrix was a factor. Your matrix looked exactly like what one would expect of a Sidhe of your biological age. Instinct, if nothing else, would have prevented most from harming you. Had Belcraven even hinted he planned to hurt you, his own people would have killed him."

"It would be nice if all that concern for children extended to part-bloods,"Sarah said bitterly.

Jareth's eyes darkened."Indeed. Belcraven is strong, both elementally and politically. Your open hostility no doubt pleased many who feared to act on their own. Part-bloods or no, his habit of preying on children cannot be comfortable for any with less perverted tastes. No matter how beneficial, the Queen would never have agreed to your proposal if she did not feel she had enough support to keep from weakening her own position."

"The land didn't give her much choice,"Sarah pointed out.

Jareth shook his head,"It strengthened her position with the moderates only. She could have chosen to ignore your actions as those of a rude child. Actually, the tone of her initial summons indicates that was exactly how she was prepared to treat you. That she has chosen to act is significant. She is aware the Goblin Kingdom does not possess the same prejudices against part-bloods. That you will train more than just your humans is inevitable."

Sarah sniffed,"We're bashing Unseelie for her. That's more than Belcraven is doing. I wouldn't be surprised to learn he's encouraging their growth."

Jareth eyed her soberly."That may be true Sarah, but be very careful you never repeat that suspicion unless you are prepared to confront him in open combat. The Queen had acknowledged you as an adult. Do you understand? You no longer possess the freedoms of your age and your matrix is clearly mature. Sidhe instinct will not protect you."

"I see,"Sarah said slowly.

Jareth stared out the window at the fountain. Finally he raised one hand indicating indecision." I think she knew I would not be willing to risk losing you. My arrival here was easy to predict once the severing of the land occurred. Whether she expects you to kill him or for me to Challenge him - for her the outcome is the same."

"I assume Dennis and Gavin know this?"she asked abruptly.

Jareth rolled his eyes,"Sarah, if you have not already figured out that your Swordmaster has appointed himself your personal bodyguard, you have not been paying attention."

She thought about that. There was so much she did not know. She did know she would be asking Dennis and Gavin to redesign their lives around her responsibilities. Not for a week or a year. If they survived, they might be in her life for a very long time. She thought about how smoothly she worked with Gavin. How she trusted him with the same unhesitating confidence she felt for Dobbs. At the easy way he shouldered the operational side of her strategies.

Dennis was a different form of comfortable. He was gentle prop rather than the pillar she expected from Air. A soothing, calming presence and a cautious, dependable advisor. Gavin challenged her to be her best, her most audacious. Dennis encouraged confidence. Listened to her concerns and let her work through her conclusions without making her feel she needed to race to action. She would need those qualities as the Embassy developed.

"If I ask them, I want them to know you approve,"Sarah said abruptly.

Jareth twitched, quickly covering the uncontrolled motion with a shift in position. She found herself pinned beneath an unblinking gaze and she frowned when he did not immediately respond.

"Jareth?"she asked confused.

He took a deep breath, then tilted his head. "You are concerned about your Swordmaster,"he said flatly.

She nodded hesitantly,"Dennis is good with the politics, but he never really cared what the Court thought about him. He walked away from them when they refused to acknowledge his marriage to a mortal over a hundred years ago. Gavin is...Gavin lost his place when his father died. He spent his whole life trying to live down the stigma of being a half-blood and then they rejected him. He..."she paused, trying to think it through."He's not like you, Jareth. You have this rock-solid confidence in who you are. He's...hurt in a way you never were."

Jareth regarded her expressionlessly and she had no idea if he understood what she was trying to say.

"People may have looked down on you for an ability they thought you lacked, but they never reviled you for what you were. They never questioned your right to even be alive, and you were still a person to them. Gavin knows it's wrong, but some part of him still believes them. He doesn't want to, but he does."

Jareth opened his mouth, then closed it and kept his eyes on her face. Sarah looked at him pleadingly.

"I'm not Sidhe, Jareth. You are. In every way that counts. He knows I don't have a clue what I'm doing. He knows damn well I could offer something I don't understand. But you do. If he knows you accept him, it'll make it okay. Do you understand?"

"Perhaps more than you do," Jareth said finally. He walked over to the patio doors and stared through the light gauzy curtains she had chosen more for effect than privacy.

"Now that you are legally an adult in the eyes of the Court, it is to our advantage to reveal that you are twice-bonded. Among other things, you will be expected to set up a Queen's Court." Jareth said tonelessly, his back still to the room. "Normally this would be a Court within the Court of the Goblin Kingdom, but there is no law that states it must be so. In light of your new commitments, there are political advantages to creating your Court here, as the defacto power structure for this so-called Embassy."

Jareth turned to look at her, eyes unreadable. "All appointments to a secondary Court must have the approval of both King and Queen. However, once appointed, only you could remove someone."

"What advantages?"Sarah asked warily.

Jareth shrugged." It is a power structure that is recognized and understood. Your people would not be required to learn new rules of conduct. Additionally, it reminds potential enemies that they do not deal with appointed representatives; they are dealing with the full authority of the Goblin Kingdom. If you do half what I think you plan, your people will need that authority. "

"What about the Goblin Kingdom?"Sarah demanded.

Jareth shrugged."The land is now part of the Goblin Kingdom. The Barrier is but a thin skin of resistance between here and there. The weakest of your mages could travel that road with little effort. In fact, it is a security issue we must address. There is little reason you could not live here and travel to the Goblin Kingdom as need demands. It is not what I intended, but there is no doubt such a decision would benefit the Goblin Kingdom regardless. As for any necessary absences...the Court exists independent of your presence. There would be no difficulty."

"I...see,"Sarah said slowly.

She wanted to ask what he thought of the idea, but was afraid she already knew the answer. Or, at least, the part of the answer that allowed him to wait five years before coming after her. Depressed, she wondered how many more he would have waited if a whopping big chunk of land had not been dropped on his head. She had the sudden lowering feeling that maybe she had been waiting for him to come after her.

Or more simply, maybe she had been waiting for him to miss her.

She twisted the Champion ring on her finger and chewed on her lower lip, not at all happy with where her thoughts were headed. She had thought she had resolved this issue. She had told herself to be content with what he could offer and not try to punish him for what he could not.

He had seemed happy enough to be her lover those first few days in the High Court of the Inner Kingdom, even if he had just about driven her insane. Standing too close, tugging on her hair, sneaking up behind her to make random comments in her ear, then wandering away as she shuddered. He always seemed disconcerted though, when she pounced on him, and she had come to the conclusion that Sidhe were just natural flirts. Certainly he never seemed to be bothered by the roaring lust that rendered her practically incoherent half the time.

One week had turned into two.

He had started suggesting everything from games of chess to quiet nights in the library. She had thought he was joking that first time, especially when he didn't seem to mind when she attacked him. The next night though, he had ignored her overtures in favor of trying to engage her interest in the history of the Goblin Kingdom. She was all in favor of learning about her new country, but not when she had ten years of erotic dreams to work out of her system. And not with firelight turning his hair gold, his eyes alight with enthusiasm, and his voice shivering across her spine as he read excerpts from books written before Moses parted the Red Sea.

She remembered moving to sit on the arm of the chair he was using and the pleased smile he gave her. Experimentally, she had wound her fingers in his hair, disappointed when he rubbed his face against her hand but did not otherwise react. Now, she could guess that he had enjoyed the feeling of her newly awakened matrix as it brushed against his own. Then, she had taken it for encouragement and leaned in to kiss him.

He had hesitated, returning her kiss slowly. His body had responded even more reluctantly. She had tried so hard that night to please him, forcing herself to recall everything he had ever seemed to react to. She had been determined not to disappoint him by being young, inexperienced, and unsophisticated. She thought she had succeeded. Then found the entire next day taken up with public activities.

Deciding that maybe he just wasn't in the mood she had spent a couple days with Jiann, trying to give him some space. The third day, when she tracked him down, he suggested a trip to a local art exhibit followed by a live dramatic performance. They explored various industries and he explained their significance to the economy of the Sidhe and how he hoped to import some of the techniques into the Goblin Kingdom.

She had thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with him, and told him so. She ignored the slight hint of distance in his eyes as he watched her reactions, and when he had taken her to watch the moon rise over a nearby lake they sat in comfortable silence for several hours as he quietly told her various myths connected to the moon. Her mood had shifted dramatically the longer he talked and she had cautiously inched closer and rested her head against his shoulder.

He had hesitated for a moment, before continuing his story. That was when she began to think the novelty of her dragon reflexes was wearing thin. Bitterly she had decided to stop making the first move. It had taken all her confidence to be the one doing all the pouncing those last weeks and she was ready for some overt sign that he actually wanted to sleep with her.

Hell, forget that.

She had wanted him as desperate for her as she was for him.

_When she made no further advances, Jareth relaxed and settled into the story. At one point he wrapped his arm around her body and pulled her into a more comfortable position. While he talked, she spent two hours trying to ignore the way he smelled and the feel of his shoulder beneath her head. The open collar of his shirt. The strands of hair that tickled her cheek. _

_The itchy, scratchy feeling of her skin that wanted to turn her inside out. _

_Her hands clenched into fists and she literally shook with the effort of keeping herself from touching him. He tilted his head, concerned, and asked if she was cold._

_She almost laughed as she shook her head._

_She tried. She really tried. On any normal day, she would have been fascinated by the conversation. He asked her a question, staring down at her expectantly, and the moonlight etched his face in sharp angles and odd shadows. She reached out impulsively to touch his lips, freezing when he impatiently drew his head back. _

_She yanked her hand away and scrambled to her feet. _

_He looked tired then, moving to follow suit. He said nothing as he watched her and she felt her nails bite into her palms as she tried to decide what to do. He wasn't in the mood. She could understand that. But he obviously wanted to spend time with her. He was clearly feeling like all she wanted was his body. Given his history, that made sense. It wasn't his fault her libido had gone bonkers. Unfortunately, in her dreams, he had been a lot more cooperative. _

_She forced a smile and suggested a walk. He quietly agreed and she tried to hold a coherent conversation. It was easier, walking. When they got back to the castle, she did not invite him to her room and he did not ask to come in. Over the next few days she was careful to accept only those outings that did not force them into close physical proximity unless other people were around. That limited her choices but it reduced her insanity factor._

_They seemed to recapture some of their initial ease with each other. He resumed tugging on her hair, although this time she didn't make the mistake of thinking it meant more than it did. She even managed a few short evenings in the library, learning to play chess. It was easier to focus on the game when she knew nothing was going to happen. She was determined not to approach him until he gave a clear sign that he was interested. He tested her resolve, though, when he invited her to sit beside him on the sofa while he read ancient poetry. _

_She didn't understand the poems, and frankly, poetry had never been a love of hers. Plays had been her thing. But she loved the sound of his voice as he read it. The fact that he loved them. The way he caressed the words, wrapping his tongue around them with passion and understanding. There were times, listening to him, she almost understood them. Could almost see the ancient battlefields or feel the anguish of the lover left behind._

_Then one night, a courtier politely asked her about the poems during a lull between dances. Jareth had apparently mentioned that she enjoyed them, thinking they would have a mutual interest. The lady chattered for almost twenty minutes before looking at her shrewdly and asking point blank if she had any interest in the poetry at all. The woman was a student of the art; Sarah wasn't about to lie. _

_She shrugged, mildly embarrassed. "I like the way Jareth reads them,"she admitted._

_The woman looked startled, then laughed. She glanced over Sarah's shoulder and smiled. As the courtier disappeared into the crowd, Sarah turned to see Jareth standing behind her. His eyes were sad as he looked at her._

_"Why didn't you tell me you didn't like poetry?"he asked in a low voice._

_Sarah shrugged,"Because it wasn't important. I liked listening to you read them."_

_If anything, he actually looked annoyed._

_"What are your interests, Sarah?"his voice not quite impatient, but close._

_She tensed, sensing disapproval,"At the moment, magic, the Desert of Despair, and you."_

_She held her breath, waiting for a reaction. She was disappointed when all he did was wave a dismissive hand."Beyond that. What interests you? You seem to have no desire to watch plays..."_

_Sitting beside him for hours in a darkened room, oh yeah. That would be real smart._

_"...you can barely keep your mind on the game when playing chess..."_

_No, she had a hard time keeping her mind off the things she wanted him to do to her body as she watched his hands as they settled gently around the cool marble of the chess pieces, his sharp focused intelligence bent on the strategy of the game._

_"... the myths and legends of my people seem to bore you beyond words..."_

_"That's not true,"she said sharply. "I love those old tales."_

_"Really,"he said sceptically."Then why is it you can barely remember half what I tell you?"_

_"Because you make me stupid, that's why,"she burst out."Utterly, completely, stupid. Satisfied? "_

_Jareth tilted his head and looked bewildered. She groaned and grabbed his hand, refusing to have this conversation where everyone could hear her. She ignored Jiann's startled look and dragged him across the dance floor and into the library. He looked at her warily when she locked the door. She whirled, planting her hands on her hips._

_"I don't remember the plays because I was too busy trying not to get arrested for lewd behavior. I can't play chess because your hands keep distracting me. Poetry? Jareth, it could have been the damn phone book as long as you just kept talking."_

_Jareth growled with frustration,"Simple lust, Sarah. I am not speaking of lust."_

"_Neither am I. I like being with you, Jareth. I like being around you."_

_She didn't understand the expression that crossed his face then, but it wasn't happy._

_She snorted,"And here's a news flash, buster. I have ten years of sexual fantasies running through my head. Ten years of hot, sexy, extremely erotic fantasies where you played the starring role. Forgive me for being a little bit NUTS."_

_Jareth blinked,"I had thought the effect would have begun to wear off by now."_

_"Are you joking?"she asked incredulously." I'm twenty-five years old, I have never had a real lover as a direct result of poor comparison to those damn dreams, I'm athletic enough to actually consider trying most of the positions contained therein and my hormones think you're the best thing since double chocolate chunk ice cream. "_

_Jareth paused, then eyed her speculatively," I had forgotten to consider your age."_

_Sarah grimaced," Yes, well. Consider this. Most of us are horny at this age. Actually, most of us are horny at any age, but I've a few years to catch up on. I'm not completely shallow, Jareth, I'm frustrated out of my tiny monkey mind."_

_Not to mention charmed out of her boots by the man in front of her. _

_He was silent for a moment then grinned faintly."Double chocolate chunk ice cream? Truly?"_

_She sighed,"Yeah, well...don't let it go to your head. I'll deal with it."_

_He raised one eyebrow,"Is there any point to dealing with it alone when we could deal with it together?"_

_Sarah shifted uncomfortably then looked away._

_"Sarah...?"Jareth asked, a note of confusion in his voice._

_She shook her head,"I didn't tell you because I thought you would...I just wanted you to know you didn't have to regret asking me to be your Champion. This won't affect my ability to do the job. It...it doesn't have to affect anything. I'll try to keep my hands to myself."_

_Jareth sighed, then stepped forward and took her hands in his."Sarah, I wish very much for you to touch me. I did not intend to give the impression that I did not. I mistook your focus for a lack of interest in anything else."He shrugged,"We will have time for friendship to develop at a future date."_

_He took a sharp step forward, surprising her into stepping backwards. When her back slammed into the wall, he laid both hands on the wall on either side of her head and grinned ferally,"In the meantime, I see no reason not to satisfy your curiosity."_

_She pushed at his chest, annoyed at the indulgent tone in his voice."Don't do me any favours,"she snapped, ducking under his arm and moving out of reach. "I'm sure I can find at least one other man around here to satisfy me."_

_If she had hoped for a sign of jealousy, she was doomed to disappointment. Jareth shrugged and leaned against the wall. "You could,"he agreed with genuine lack of concern. "But I admit to some curiosity of my own. And since the land was so obliging as to present you with the object of your desires, surely it is only polite to accept such a gift with grace."_

_Sarah smiled sweetly,"They were fantasies, Jareth. What makes you think you can measure up?"_

_Jareth returned her smile with a slow thoughtful perusal of her body. When his gaze locked with hers, he pushed off the wall and strolled toward her._

_"There is only one way to find out."_


	20. Chapter 20

Jareth asked her to give him some time to think about the disposition of her Court. They spent the rest of the night getting Sarah caught up on the last five years in the Goblin Kingdom. After breakfast, Sarah made a quick stop at the stationhouse for her mandated counseling session. She caught the psyche counselor giving her the occasional surprised look, but she passed. She was also back on a four day off-shift.

Five minutes after she walked back into her apartment, Dennis called. A group of Earth mages had lost control of a spell and had destabilized part of the shield spell. It wasn't serious - yet - but he was wondering if Jareth would be willing to repair it rather than risk waiting for Gavin to get back from City Hall and having another accident bring the whole thing down.

Jareth had looked up curiously from the TV and raised two eyebrows when she relayed the request. He looked briefly intrigued. He nodded and they walked across to the park in silence. She watched as he frowned slightly when he studied the gate guardians. His frown deepened as they followed the winding paths through the trees. At first she thought he was concerned over the greenhouse effect they had encouraged, but he spared only a brief approving glance skyward, then continued to focus his concern on the stonework.

"What?"she asked, getting worried.

He hesitated,"Your Earth mages did all the stone-shaping?"

She grinned."Yep,"she said proudly."It takes three of them to work on each section of pathway - one to weave, one to shape the stone, and one to hold the shielding - but it was good practice for them. The energy requirements were so low they could practice all day and Dennis and Gavin were able to catch any accidents when the shields blew."

Jareth cringed.

Sarah caught the look,"It was okay. We spread them out to limit the damage. After Gavin spent the morning jumping to catch one explosion after another we started creating baffles."

She grinned again, smugly. That had been a piece of work and until they actually did it, Gavin had not even known if it would work. She stepped off the path and led Jareth around one of the dragons. She felt him jerk to a halt when she dropped the protective spell and he got a good look at the quiescent baffles. It took less energy to leave the baffles standing than to recreate them so they just shoved them out of the way and threw a shield around them.

They were odd looking. For one thing, they leaned. And to magical senses they felt sticky.

"Gavin could build reflective shields easily enough, and angling the baffles to reflect the energy up was no problem,"she explained,"but the energy kept hitting the ceiling too hard and punching through. Aside from the risk to the shields, I didn't want to be responsible for knocking planes out of the sky so I had the land poke around in my matrix."

Jareth's eyes widened,"You had the..." he broke off abruptly and gave her a strange look.

Sarah shrugged,"I knew I could absorb energy, and I needed something like a power sink, but one directional so it wouldn't suck all the power out of Gavin's shields. The land here is really committed to the Earth mages, so it was helpful once I told it what I told it what I wanted." She caught the look on his face. "What?"

Jareth shook himself, as if settling feathers, then answered in a bemused tone,"I am impressed, my love. Land is willing, but not normally quick to comprehend."

Sarah nodded agreement,"It got easier when I leaned on my translation talent."

The interest in Jareth's eyes sharpened. Sarah tapped the side of her head.

"I got thinking about how this thing worked. I mean, all the cultural understanding must be coming from the land, right? Annie was talking about how compilers work for computers, translating programming language into the binary code that a computer understands. Each word in a programming language stands for an action that the computer can do - but that action might have a hundred steps to it we never see and don't need to understand.

Jareth's eyes narrowed.

Sarah's sweeping gesture took in everything around them."Well that's what a spell is, isn't it? Shorthand for a series of steps the land has been programmed over the years to understand? So there has to be a point beneath all that where the land starts to understand. I assumed that's the level the filter was communicating with and started pushing my requests through the filter. It worked."

One eyebrow arched, expressing disbelief. "Somehow I doubt it was that easy, Sarah."

"It's getting easier,"Sarah said honestly."I can almost sense the translation to the land now that I'm paying attention. The more precise and simple the concepts, the better. It worked, anyway. The power sink we layered over the shield is porous. Whatever the power sink can't absorb passes through, bounces off the reflective shield and is reflected upwards. We've only had a couple serious hits to the shield in weeks. And the energy is collected into a reservoir the mages use to work on the larger projects-like the dragons."

Jareth looked horrified,"Drawing on power reservoirs...Sarah, that is insanity. These are advanced concepts that take years to master."

Sarah set her jaw, having already heard plenty from Dennis and Gavin on the subject until they proved it could work. "No they are not. Not really."

"Yes,"Jareth snapped."Really."

"No,"Sarah said carefully,"they just happen to be skills you normally don't teach first because your mages don't progress to the larger spells until they can shield for themselves."

And now she knew why.

"Half our Earth mages won't be able to shield properly for years,"she pointed out.

"Which is why they should be working with small energies, until it is safe to do so,"Jareth ground out.

"Why should they?"Sarah asked simply."We have part-blood Air mages who can shield for them. It's a bloody elemental reflex for them."

Jareth opened his mouth to argue, then paused. "It is not how it is done,"he finally said, grudgingly. "You teach them nothing if you teach them partway."

Sarah shook her head." Humans don't have the years the Sidhe take for granted Jareth. Your children can spend thirty years learning to master all the intricacies of minor elemental magics while they wait for their matrices to mature. Humans don't have that kind of time. Worse, I need them trained now. "

She flung out a hand,"Do you see all this? It took ten of them to shape the dragons. Air to hold the shields, three to tap the power reservoir safely. Two of our strongest held the focus and fed the spell to our artist. Sela has barely enough magic to qualify as a mage, but look at what she accomplished," she nearly begged, desperate to have him see what she saw. "There's not one bit of difference focusing for something like this and focusing defensive and offensive magic."

"You are training them to fight Unseelie,"Jareth said with astonishment.

Sarah bared her teeth in a feral snarl, her dragon twitching."We're training them to _destroy_ Unseelie. "

Jareth took a deep breath and frowned with concentration.

Sarah smiled mirthlessly,"Humans may be murderous, short-lived and criminally negligent when it comes to the land, but we work well in groups, Jareth. I know I'm sacrificing the skill they might acquire as individuals, but they need to be able to defend themselves today, not twenty years from now."

Jareth nodded slowly, reluctantly. "Yes... I see. You risk the entire group, but you gain the ability to work well beyond your years. You are training them to work in pairs?"

Sarah shook her head,"Triads, too."

Jareth's entire body stilled."Triads?"he managed, his voice strangled. Then the sudden fierce hope in his eyes died. "Two Earth to one of Air,"he concluded dejectedly.

"No,"Sarah said softly.

Jareth made a low sound, almost of pain."Sarah..."

"As of yesterday we have five part-blood Children of Water in our class. Technically they are human, but they've been inbreeding with humans for so long that their genes match well with the descendants of any of the coastal fishing villages in England and Ireland. Their children have managed to breed true enough times to keep a small community going. They don't have any more training than other part-bloods though, and the Unseelie have been picking them off one by one."

She stopped when his hands closed painfully over her shoulders and she winced as his fingers bit into flesh.

"Why did you not tell me, Sarah"he demanded, fury and hurt in his eyes.

She glared,"Because it was supposed to be a surprise, you jerk. Both Pip and Cory want to see the Goblin Kingdom and Pip's parents have already given permission for her do an apprenticeship in the Goblin City once she turns thirteen. You only get them during the summer vacations - at least until she graduates - but that's almost six months Goblin time given the differential. "

The fingers on her shoulders tightened spasmodically, then loosened slightly.

"You promised an Earth-Water pairing an apprenticeship with me?"he asked dazedly. "Perfect compliments?"

"You're a Child of Air, aren't you?"she grumbled."I thought you'd be pleased. Although to be fair, I've had Gavin keeping an eye out for a part-blood Child of Air to be their permanent third."

Annoyed that he had ruined her surprise, and more than a little disappointed that he didn't seem to be as happy as she had thought he'd be, she pulled away and concentrated on rebuilding the shields around the baffles. She was conscious of him standing silently behind her, then yelped with surprise when he yanked the faltering spell from her control and re-cast it.

"Show-off,"she muttered.

She was unprepared when he spun her around and kissed her fiercely. His eyes were gold when he finally raised his head and she had to swallow several times before she trusted her voice to come out without squeaking.

"I'll have to surprise you more often,"she mumbled.

His arms closed painfully around her and she was surprised to feel him shaking. Not adrenalin shakes, more an odd convulsive shudder that seem to vibrate through his body. She leaned her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. After a moment, he began to speak.

"Earth can filter tainted water, and in some cases, reshape existing waterways. Air does better with atmospheric water, lending shape to storms and pulling rain from the clouds. But neither can easily search out and locate hidden springs and rivers far below the surface. Not can we draw the water to us or remake the paths water takes. There is water in the Desert, Sarah. Far below the surface and Tainted, but it exists. The Goblin Kingdom watched, year after year as the Desert expanded, helpless to do anything except retreat and watch as the fields and forests died. Living things need water and it was forever out of our reach."

The trembling in his body eased as he spoke, but his words painted a grim picture, and the horror and helplessness of all his years fighting an unstoppable enemy echoed in his voice. He laughed abruptly, a wild burst of sound that was part joy, part disbelief. He leaned back and framed her face with both hands.

"We can beat the Desert,"he said, wonder and amazed surprise in his voice.

She blinked, caught off guard by his surprise. "Well of course we can."

He laughed again, a sharp bark of near uncontrolled sound. "You will have to forgive me Sarah, but until this moment, I had only hope. I believed, you see. In you. In what I thought we could accomplish. But until now, I did not know for certain that what I dreamed was possible. It is disconcerting to finally see what I have fought for all these years unfolding before my very eyes."

Sarah reached to cover his right hand, turning her head to brush her lips across his palm.

"You hid your uncertainty well,"she said with a smile.

Before he could reply, a slight scuff of rubber on rock sounded behind her and Jareth's head jerked up, a slight snarl on his lips that smoothed and faded almost immediately. Sarah turned her head to see Dennis watching uncertainly.

"Sorry to interrupt,"he said apologetically."I felt the shields on the baffles shift and wanted to make sure no one had gotten sucked into one."

Jareth snorted."Young mages with more skill than wit. My condolences."

Dennis shook his head in remembered disbeleif,"I do not recall discovering half so many creative ways to almost kill myself."

"Speaking of which..."Sarah said leadingly.

"Ah, yes..."Dennis said, eyes dancing with mirth."It seems that Gavin made the mistake of telling young Pip that dragons can make gold."

"But I can't..."Sarah started, then looked at Jareth in disbeleif."Can I?"

"Of course,"Jareth said absently.

"Any inorganic substance really,"Dennis expanded."Energy conversion is an elemental property of Fire. You'll find the basic elements the easiest, at least until you have more control over your shielding. "

"Huh? So what's to stop me from turning a whole mountain into gold?"Sarah asked, trying to wrap her head around having the ability to destroy the economy of a country.

"The laws of the universe,"Jareth drawled.

She scowled at him.

"Actually, that's pretty much the problem,"Dennis agreed."You are still working within the laws of physics. Rock is extraordinarily stable. You'd use a large amount of the mass just to convert it to energy. Then the mass itself would have to be reduced to compensate for the difference in atomic weights. You would also need energy for your shields and the re-alignment process. Assuming you could convert an object as large as a mountain without blowing yourself up, to create something as atomically heavy as gold, you might finish with enough to fill a wheelbarrow."

"You know it freaks me out when you start using phrases like 'atomic weight' and 'the laws of physics' when talking about magic, don't you?"Sarah asked only half tongue in cheek.

"You would be better served by creating gemstones,"Jareth said thoughtfully, clearly realizing why she was curious. "Most are atomically light; they gain value through the processes of heat and pressure. Such can be achieved by the manipulation of your shields."

Sarah mulled that over, thinking about the costs involved with the land purchase. The investment by the Earth mages had been crucial to their success getting funding, but if she could add gemstones to their treasury, it would go a long way to offsetting the massive debt they were going to accrue otherwise. Caught up in her thoughts, she did not notice when Jareth stepped slightly away from her and focused his gaze intently on Dennis.

"It has come to my attention that your counsel has greatly benefited both my Champion and my Kingdom these past days. It is in my mind that my Queen has a request in honor that she wishes to address to you."

The words were spoken softly enough that she almost missed them. It was the sudden pulse from Jareth's matrix that caught her attention and she raised her head to see Dennis standing completely still. Sheer terror flashed across his face and she hesitated, dismayed that she had so misread the situation. Then his eyes shifted to an endless black, the rimless avian black of his raven shift form and she saw his hands were shaking. She glanced helplessly at Jareth when Dennis fixed his eyes on her face and wished for words, official pretty ones that would express all Dennis had been to her and what she was asking.

She felt her smile slip and didn't try to fake one.

"It's going to be hard, Dennis. Jareth thinks a Queen's Court will give some protection but I don't have any illusions about what I'm asking you to consider. It may get you killed. But I need people I can trust, people who can understand what I'm trying to do and who have the guts to get it done. "She floundered for something else to say, then smiled hesitantly,"I guess I'm trying to say that I need you, if you're interested in the job."

She saw him swallow convulsively a few times, then he took three rapid strides to bring her within touching distance and went to his knees so fast she winced in sympathy. Jareth placed her right hand on Dennis's left shoulder and placed his own left hand on Dennis's right. She felt Dennis tremble, the same convulsive shudders she had felt from Jareth earlier and Jareth looked down solemnly.

"I call the land to witness. Do you swear that you give your life into my Queen's keeping, willingly and without duress, to let her keep you in her heart, accepting from her the protection and honor of the Goblin Kingdom?"

Sarah was unprepared for the shift in the land as it opened itself to the Goblin Kingdom and let it surge forward.

Dennis had not taken his eyes from Sarah's face and his voice was steady as he answered."I do,"he replied.

Jareth smiled,"Let the land witness and recognize you as one of its own."

Sarah gasped as the land flowed smoothly down her hand, through Dennis, coiling briefing through his matrix in welcome, then flowing up Jareth's arm until a circle was complete. With an almost audible snap a pattern shimmered within her matrix, and tiny light glowed softly within it. It pulsed and shimmered, a tiny echo of the person that was Dennis and even as the pattern faded, she found she could reach for it if she wished.

Apparently, keeping someone in the heart wasn't a figure of speech.

She stroked the pattern with wonder and Dennis grinned.

"I can feel that, you know,"he said mischievously.

She gave the pattern a mental hug and watched as his smile faded. Then he stood gracefully and bowed to Jareth. She didn't have to ask why. Then Dennis grinned a bit crookedly.

"I guess I'd better get back to making sure our trainees don't knock the shield down." The wonder in his voice as he wrapped his tongue carefully around the word 'our' was heartbreaking in a painful way that made her want to smile. And his strides were confident and firm as he started to walk away.

"Oh...wait,"she called after him, remembering an unfinished story."You didn't tell us what happened."

His grin was wickedly amused."They did some research and discovered that shield compression was part of the process and decided to practice with a spell they already knew."

Sarah ran through the checklist of spells he had taught the Earth mages. Pip, as a Child of Earth, was particularly adept and Sarah was not surprised she had thought to try something from the near-compliment side of her spectrum. But what...? Oh...wait. She glanced at Dennis whose eyes were dancing with laughter as he waited for her to catch on.

Yuck.

"The compression spell for the accelerated sewage process?"she asked faintly.

"Yep."

Sarah shuddered."Do I really want to know?"

"Well, you'll need to renew the heat spells on the showers a lot sooner than we expected."


	21. Chapter 21

Jareth finished the rest of the tour in good humor, but Sarah couldn't help thinking about Gavin as Jareth repaired the damage to the shields and she renewed their stock of heater spells. Heading back to the apartment for supper, she finally asked him something that had been nagging at her all afternoon.

"Should we have asked Dennis so much sooner than Gavin? Wouldn't it have been more polite to ask them together?"she asked, chewing her lip nervously.

Jareth eyed her intently, then tilted his head.

"Do you value Dennis less than your Swordmaster?"Jareth asked calmly.

"No!"her reply was instantaneous. Then she flushed slightly.

Jareth smiled wryly,"And therein lies the difficulty. He is no less valued, but his services are less...obvious. In many ways, they are undervalued, especially for what you hope to achieve. Your Swordmaster will, in many ways, be your second-in-command, a much higher rank in the eyes of most. By asking Dennis first, we assure him of his worth to you. "

Sarah scowled,"Does everything have to be so complicated with you folks?"

Jareth arched a brow,"And who was concerned about the courtesy of asking them both together?"

"Point,"Sarah grumbled.

Jenner informed them that a messenger had arrived with instructions for Sarah to meet her instructor on the grounds of the Goblin Embassy.

"Did he specifically title it an Embassy?"Jareth asked with interest.

Jenner nodded.

"This is a good thing, right?"Sarah asked finally.

Jareth shrugged noncommittally,"It is intriguing."

"Sounds like I'll be busy for a few hours,"Sarah commented."You going to take the Queen up on her invitation?"

"I believe I shall,"Jareth said thoughtfully.

Two hours later, Sarah was being examined under the gimlet eye of a wizened dwarf whose bag of jewels put Hoggle's personal treasure to shame. She listened with fascination as he explained the process of creating gemstones.

"We ain't no Fire mages, that's for sure. Them stones what you create are no more true gemstones than the fake stone the humans make. A true gemstone takes time to create, duplicating the process of the land, not just the physical whys and whatnots. Done right, there ain't no difference 'tween a stone grown in the earth and one grown by a dwarf."

Sedgewort squinted at her speculatively," 'course, gems ain't all what you can do, but the theory is much the same. I figure if'n I shows you the basics, you'll be able to figures the rest on your own."

He stomped across the land with a fine disregard for the contamination that had Sarah wrapping shields around her feet and lower legs. No doubt she could shift-heal any damage, but she wasn't about to take any chances. He pointed at the lines of track crisscrossing the land.

"First thing you gots to do is get rid of all that cold iron. It makes my teeth ache and would give your king a right painful burn it would. Can't say as it would be healthful for many of your folk, part-blood or no. So, if'n it's gold you want, that there is the perfect material. Almost pure it is, we'll only lose about thirty percent mass making up the weight differential. Should lose another twenty percent or so in the conversion."

Sarah eyed the multiple runs of track that crisscrossed the warehouse and railway yards. Then added in the tracks extending toward the highway and down the waterfront. She whistled softly. Even with a fifty to sixty percent loss, there would be several tons of gold left when she was finished. Enough to pay off the mortgages and support the Earth mages until they could finish decontaminating the property.

Two hours later, sweating and triumphant, she stared at a half-pound brick of gold. Non-radioactive and stable gold. Sedgewort had snorted when she asked about the myths of fairy gold and derided the custom, saying he didn't hold with poisoning people for honest greed. It had taken a few minutes for her to understand that the gold had not been an illusion, it had simply been an unstable isotope that decayed into lead, leaking radioactivity as it did so.

She had looked at her shields with more respect after learning that fact.

She still had trouble maintaining her shields at the same time she controlled the conversion, but once she understood the basic process for creating the matrix which the new material used to reform itself, she found the actual conversion to be quite easy.

"This is easy,"Sedgewort warned her,"Iron is malleable, and cold iron such as this is almost pure. And mind you have someone watching those shields the first time you convert organic material into energy. It has a kick to it that can catch you by surprise."

Sarah blinked, then started to laugh as she imagined the looks on the kids' faces the first time she turned shit into gold. She'd have to make them commemorative coins or something, to mark the occasion. While the sewage had a practical use restoring the park, she couldn't think of a better way to handle all the garbage they were generating. Most of it was carbon-based. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully as it occurred to her that diamonds were carbon-based.

Her smile was slyly delighted as she considered all the tons of garbage no one would miss.

Maybe they should consider accepting a garbage collection contract. That paid good money these days and it would be a rather satisfying form of community service. Not to mention profitable. The rock for the buildings they could dredge from the harbor, no one would miss several tons of mud. But they'd need other stuff too. Glass. Copper piping for the water supply. Lead crystal.

Silverware.

Leaving her with a book that resembled a leather-bound copy of a high school textbook, Sedgewort made her promise to study the molecular structure of several useful elements and he would see her the next evening. She dutifully followed his instructions while eating dinner. Desert was spent idly studying the processes involved with each stage of a gemstone's lifecycle. The book had clearly been written by a Fire mage for fire mages and Sarah wondered if Sedgewort would let her borrow it long enough to make her own copy.

Yawning, she headed for the bedroom and dreamed of dragon gold and rubies.

_The dinner had been exquisite but Jareth felt a pang of longing for the dinner Jenner had been making when he had walked out of Sarah's bedroom earlier. The brownie had taken one look at his Court finery, her eyes widening. Her expression had clouded with worry suddenly and he had gotten the oddest impression she was on the verge of saying something. Then she had sighed and gone back into the kitchen. _

_He wished Sarah had not ignored his hints that he would have been willing to spend the evening with her. In truth, he had feared to make his intentions too obvious. She had been thrilled with the prospect of learning to create gemstones and her eyes had gleamed with a childlike anticipation he hoped to explore later this evening. Fire was unique in its ability to convert the nature of an element, and if he held the shields, perhaps she would be interested in trying to create one of the precious gems humans coveted so much._

_His smile wavered slightly as he recalled that he still needed to present his approval and invitation to her Swordmaster. Jareth brooded on her ease of manner with the brawny half-blood and wondered if she knew what it had cost Jareth to agree to her request. Or if it would have mattered. He was not blind to the man's appeal. Half-blood Gavin might be, but he fit into the world Sarah was creating for herself and Jareth had yet to see a place for himself beyond that of distant monarch._

_A shiver of true panic threatened his composure and he realized with some dismay that he was closer to losing control that he had feared. He was losing the race against time, the one commodity he had assumed he had plenty to spend. He stared into his wine, tasting none of it. Five years he had waited for her to come home. Five years and with each change of the calendar he had stood alone in the throne-room and watched the inexorable sweep of the hands of the clock as it headed remorselessly for thirteen._

_For his own sanity he had needed to let her go. He had truly wished to provide her with the time to say good-bye to her world, but after those disappointing weeks at Court, he had hoped she could also let go of whatever held her back from even trying to build a friendship with him. Her initial enthusiasm had pleased him until he realized there was nothing beyond it. She did not seek him out for aught beyond bedroom games and his few attempts to engage her interest had nearly ended in disaster._

_Jiann had told him to be patient, but he had seen the concern in her eyes as he struggled with his mounting panic. The dreams the land had sent her would fade from memory and while the Sidhe were not overburdened with Children of Air, nor were they rare. Plenty would present themselves as potential partners should he fail to establish a preference for his presence. He had even planned to take advantage of her human nature by binding her through her primitive sexual responses once she admitted the hold the dreams still had on her body._

_His mother had warned him with annoying regularity about the primitive nature of the human emotional connection. Indeed, he felt himself quite the expert on the subject by now. He had even made a mental list of all the things he would have to remember should he truly wish to succeed where his mother had failed._

_Humans were sexually possessive. Jiann had warned he could expect jealousy, anger and thrown objects should he be so foolish as to flirt with another woman - even in all innocence. Guilt or innocence would not matter, she explained, only threat. Threat was something he understood and he saw no reason he could not abide by those rules. He had gone to great effort those weeks at the Court, ensuring she knew of his interest, avoiding contact with other females. He even ceased trying to find points of common interest, concluding reluctantly that he would be better served to court her thus after her physical obsession faded somewhat. _

_Ignoring the amusement of the Court, he had made a right fool of himself, flirting shamelessly with her. She had been unaffected, coolly amused while his own scent betrayed his condition with pathetic clarity. He supposed it should have been gratifying that many had chosen to approach him gently with tales of seduction techniques guaranteed to work on human females. Luckily for his pride and her innocence, none of the males were serious threats, either emotionally or in spectrum. The strongest were skewed too far toward Water and the others that tried to engage her interest did not succeed._

_He introduced her to several males he knew were not emotional threats, but who he thought might engage her interest for a time. He took careful notes whose company she enjoyed the most, then pounced on them after the fact, scavenging what information he could discover about her interests and hobbies. Unfortunately, she had not chosen any to partner however briefly so he had no way to discover if she had tastes or fantasies she might not have shared with him yet. As for other interests, few of the males reported much beyond the fact she liked to dance, but was still slightly stiff and clumsy. One warrior had helpfully suggested dance lessons as a prelude to seduction._

_Personally he had not found her stiff at all, and she moved with him fluidly if a bit shyly at times. However, it was possible the overlapping of their matrices was allowing her to coordinate with his movements on a reflex level. He had determined to capitalize on that advantage. Before he could put his plan into effect, however, a visiting Child of Earth had cornered him during a supper dance and engaged his interest with some questions regarding the effects of Despair and the efforts underway to transplant the last grove of Silverpod to the Inner Kingdoms for protection._

_They talked most of the evening and ended in the library sipping wine. It wasn't until the door opened behind him that he remembered he had forgotten about the last dance of the evening. Springing to his feet he had turned to see Sarah watching him calmly from the doorway. She would have been aware of his preoccupation and he cursed his own inattentiveness. He could only hope the resulting scene would not be too embarrassing and that Dania would accept his apologies._

_He was caught off balance when instead of accusing him, Sarah introduced herself politely, with all the courtesy one would expect from a Champion. He was fully aware, if Dania was not, that Sarah had no way to know he had not engaged Dania's interest for the evening and the Child of Earth had seemed slightly confused as his fear scent climbed. She stood cautiously, looking between them. Then Sarah had smiled again, and with due courtesy suggested that Dania might enjoy the last dance of the evening._

_It was an invitation any Sidhe would understand._

_Then, her scent strangely flat but clearly in control, Sarah stepped quietly from the room. Dania had turned to look at Jareth with interest, only to freeze in confusion as the skin on his face rippled._

_"Jareth?"she had asked, concerned._

_He was beyond pride. He could barely remember all the reasons he needed to stay in control. He grabbed Dania's hand tightly. _

_"Don't let me shift, here. Please,"he had begged._

_She was his opposite, but she was able to help him shield long enough to get him to her room. Then she stared at him in confusion as he shuddered and tried not to go feral. Finally she had knelt at his feet, stroking his arm gently. He had been conscious of a desire to apologize. He also had to tell her why it was so important that she not let him leave the room if he shifted feral._

_"She is human,"he said finally._

_Dania just looked at him,"She does not feel human,"she said finally._

_His smile was bitter."She is human."_

_Dania frowned slightly as she tried to sort through what he was telling her. Slowly, comprehension dawned and she placed his reaction to a perfectly normal conversation into another context. Human habits were well known. She was also old enough to recall the bitter scenes between his father and Jiann before the final break. His condition was obvious and compassion filled her eyes._

_"I am so sorry, Jareth,"she said softly._

_Then she held him as he shifted and keened his grief into her shoulder._

_The glass in his hand shattered and Jareth jerked back to the present. The Queen eyed him as he impatiently vanished the mess and signaled for another glass. She tapped the table gently. _

_"You came perilously close to breaking the rules, Jareth."_

_He held his tongue, uncertain of his temper. She shrugged gracefully._

_"I have decided to forgive you. In retrospect, I quite admire your audacity," she said with a smile._

_Jareth smiled politely and waited for the true questions to begin. Corrine tilted her head and let a hint of curiosity into her eyes._

_"I find she is all that could be expected of a Champion. A young Champion,"she added dryly._

_"A Champion of Fire?"Jareth parried._

_Corrine shrugged."Perhaps. And yet I hear rumors you have offered her the Goblin Crown as well. She is no politician, Jareth. Nor do I think she has any aspirations to such."_

_Jareth accepted his new glass of wine and took a sip. His shrug was as casual as her had been graceful."If I required a politician, I would have married one."_

_Corrine smiled sweetly,"You have not married your warrior yet." She paused when he did not respond, yet kept his eyes steady on her face. Her eyes narrowed._

_"Or have you?"she asked softly._

_Jareth did not break eye contact."She is twice-bonded, Corrine. By the choice of the land."_

_It was an old phrase. A ritual phrase that had not been used since before the War of Destruction. He doubted there were any now alive who had heard it used in context.But they all knew the words._

_Corrine reached blindly for her wine to cover her confusion and shock."I...see." She took a shaky breath."But I am not certain I understand. There are reasons why Queens are of Earth."_

_"Today,"Jareth acknowledged."But it was not always so."_

_Corrine hesitated, sipping her wine thoughtfully,"No...it wasn't,"she finally acknowledged. Her expression altered suddenly with comprehension." You seek to create a legend," she said, amused laughter warring with delight._

_Jareth smiled, baring the points of his teeth just slightly. It was a dangerous smile, holding a hint of the feral within it, and it never failed to make those of the Upper Kingdoms just a little bit uneasy. Even had they been inclined not to remember that the magic of the Underground was not broken to heel like that of the world Above, his appearance would not let them forget. It was a tool he had used to some advantage in the past._

_"In Sarah, reality and dreams collide,"Jareth warned her. "Fire pairs with Air for the first time since the Children of Fire rode against Despair. That is no legend."_

_"You truly expect to succeed,"Corrine said wonderingly._

_Jareth nodded."I am certain of it."_

_Corrine tilted her head, caught by the unambiguous confidence of his answer. Her interest shifted abruptly as she calculated the likely result of a final turning point in a war that had been ancient before either of them was born. _

_"I see,"she said, this time in a completely different tone of voice._

_He could see her weigh the advantages of Sarah's proposed Embassy in light of this new possibility. Additionally, he suspected she was as aware as he of the consequences of Sarah's crusade against the Unseelie. He did not think she found the end result displeasing although like any ruler, she was concerned about any potential conflict. However, the Upper Kingdoms had used the Goblin Kingdom as a dumping ground for their secret sins far too long. Half-bloods were the result of carelessness, not an inevitable result of mating with humans._

_"I have been studying this concept of diplomatic immunity your Champion proposed. I find I am comfortable extending this right to the Goblin Line direct. I anticipate a closer connection with the Goblin Kingdom as we explore where this alliance takes us."_

_Jareth froze, Corrine's clear and steady gaze confirming he had not misheard her intent. Immunity, yes. This was not unprecedented, although not often used. But Corrine had got further. The word alliance had not been chosen carelessly and Jareth felt one more barrier fall as an Upper Kingdom took the first step toward a blood-friendship the Lower Kingdoms had not enjoyed since the sealing of the Gates against the Underground and Despair._

_Corrine had an heir. Jareth had never met the boy, but a Child of Air was always a prospect to keep in mind. Especially when one considered that chances were good that any daughters born to Sarah would also be Children of Fire. _

_"Friendships are always to be valued when they can be found,"he said non-committally._

_If anything, his answer seemed to please her more than outright enthusiasm. The work of the evening behind them, she turned the conversation to more personal topics and he found the evening passing more enjoyably than he had anticipated. When the interest in her eyes took on an intrigued curiosity, he hesitated then considered his options in light of the threat Gavin presented._

_He eyed Corrine speculatively as he sipped a light desert wine._

_She was intelligent and she possessed a beauty Sarah would recognize. She was also of a rank to be unimpressed with his own. Surely Sarah would see that such a woman would not waste her time on a male she found unworthy. He glanced briefly at the Consort ring on his finger and tightened his lips with determination. If Sarah would have it back, she had best be prepared to fight for it. Perhaps it was time to remind her that he could be more to her than he was currently, if she would but look._

_He leaned back in his chair, tilting his head as he let his eyes reflect his admiration for the woman in front of him._

_Corrine smiled._


	22. Chapter 22

Sarah woke to a silent apartment. Glancing at the clock she saw it was only a little after midnight. Jareth was clearly making a late night of it, but she was not really surprised. She had already discovered that needing only four hours of sleep a day made for long nights. It had taken her a bit of time to make the mental adjustment, her brain telling her she was supposed to be asleep when she woke at midnight. But staying up until midnight or even two made even less sense. She fell over comatose after whichever meal Jenner loaded with proteins and when she got home after a physically demanding day, she wanted food immediately.

So she got used to sleeping based on whether she was on night or days at the station.

She stretched contentedly, then wandered out to see what Jenner had left for a snack. She spent nearly an hour searching through boxes, but she finally located the leather-bound journal Karen had given her last Christmas. She had never had a chance to use it, and she briefly admired the beautiful stitching. She located the calligraphy pens Karen had sent with it and settled down to make her own copy of Sedgewort's book. A quick flip through the pages showed a rough organization so she decided to copy everything in order.

She had finished the section on shielding and was just starting a chapter called Fire Gems when she heard the door open. Looking up, she was about ask how the Court had treated him when he stepped into the light. She heard the pen in her hand snap and looked down blankly to see ink spreading over the untouched page. Numbly laying the pen aside she ripped the spoiled page from the book before it could stain the rest of the pages, then stared at it blankly.

He didn't have to tell her.

She carefully crumpled the page in her hand, trapping the ink and wishing she could trap her own feeling so easily.

_You can do this_, she told herself. _You did it last time. It doesn't mean anything. He is what he is._ She closed her eyes briefly, hunting for the control to keep from ripping her life apart.

It should be easier this time.

To be honest, she had left the Underground with a sense of relief. She had not been certain she could keep talking herself into something she wasn't sure she believed. She had been surprised at how open the Sidhe had been about their feelings and the Sidhe women had answered her questions honestly, if with a bit of puzzlement. A contemporary of Jiann's had flat out told her that she did not wish to see a repeat of Jiann's disastrous relationship with Jareth's father and spent several hours expounding on the emotional immaturity of humans compared to the Sidhe.

In the end, she had realized that she couldn't change him, and she had tried to moderate her own responses. It had taken everything she had not to start crying the first time he introduced her to one of his friends and smiled at her, completely unconcerned whether she left with the man for the night or not. She had actually determined to do just that one evening, only to run headlong into one inescapable fact.

She would hurt no one but herself.

They were beautiful. Many of them more physically stunning than Jareth could ever hope to be. And their eyes were just as empty as any of her human lovers had ever seemed. She'd cursed Jareth then, for using that damn spell. She had finally realized that if she ever hoped to see the love she remembered in the bauble reflected in his eyes for real, she was going to have to learn to play by his rules. The first thing she had to do was remove that guarded look he perpetually wore. The scars left by his father's relationship with Jiann ran deep.

But she was starting to understand why the man had left.

She had not expected it to be easy, but it should not have been this hard. He cared about her, wanted her to be happy. Met her sexual needs without complaint. It was her own primitive physical responses that wanted him to leap up and dance with her out of desire rather than lack of distaste.

She had never realized how her own sexual responses were triggered by her emotional ones. She had never been so aware of the effects before. She would watch his face light with passion and enthusiasm and the strength of her emotional response would trigger a hunger- not just a need, but a real hunger- to reach out and touch him. She had been afraid to ask if he loved her, because if he said yes, she was terrified it might not be enough.

He had said himself; there would be time to develop a friendship in the future. Which implied they did not have one now. Which left her with the fact that she was his Champion and his Queen and nothing else. So she had stuffed her anger and pain deep inside where even she had trouble feeling her own emotions and walked into that library and said whatever it was she was expected to say.

Then she walked out the door and asked Jiann to send her home.

Two years. Two years she had spent doing everything she could to forget. Learning skills and relearning ancient knowledge that would help her fight for the Goblin Kingdom. She even built herself a home. A place where Jareth didn't have to be to make her happy, because she was terrified she was going to turn around and find out she needed it. She hadn't been blind to some of the reasons she had not contacted him. She just kept waiting to wake up and realize that if what she feared was true, it wouldn't hurt anymore.

She was still waiting.

She toyed with the leather stitching on her book and decided she was going to have to tell him that she wanted...no, needed...some physical sign that he cared about her. Not a casual endearment and not things that she had a right to simply as his Champion. If he could find a way to convince her right down to spinal reflex that she was important to him as a person, then...well, she would do whatever she had to do. But if he couldn't, she would travel to the Goblin Kingdom as needed, acting as his Champion and Queen, but she would never live in the Goblin Castle. And it would be a long time before he ever shared her bed.

At least until she found a way to fall out of love.

She stood slowly, noting the careful way he was watching her. She took a deep breath to steady herself for the upcoming conversation...and stilled. The room shifted into shades of grey and she felt her lips draw back in a silent snarl as she caught the scent on his skin. Something hot and angry tore loose inside her head and she slipped closer to him, body unthinkingly predatory as she scented carefully along his body, nostrils flaring with each inhalation.

He did not move and she saw dismay on his face.

The rational died beneath a flood of fury so great it almost blinded her. Bloodlust roared and she felt the skin on her face ripple as she threw back her head and drew in the scent of her enemy. Grey shifted to silver and the dragon smiled slyly as it considered where her enemy lived. She could track her. Earth would be no defense against Fire, and the dragon would laugh as she burned. She would burn it all.

She felt ropes of magic try to bind her and slashed at them contemptuously. They parted, sucked into her matrix and she ignored Jareth's gasp of pain. She roared her anger. Betrayer. Traitor. She had her claws hooked in the foolish fabric of his jacket. Did he think he could stop her? His back hit the wall and she stared at him, holding him still, hurt and fury cascading in a river of molten pain.

She slammed him up against the wall again, frustration overwhelming her as she struggled to talk. To shape the human words that would cry out her pain. He had promised. The dragon hesitated, confused as pattern clashed against pattern, informing it that he had never promised a thing. The dragon cried out in rage. He had promised. He had mated. He had accepted the responsibility of children. He...

He did not promise, another part of her said sadly.

And she did not want to hurt him.

The dragon howled, unable to decide what to do. Part of her screamed to destroy her enemy. Rend her flesh from bone. Another part wanted to run away. Tear the ring from her finger and pretend it had all been a bad dream. But even that part knew it was a wish she would never take even if she was offered the choice. Part of her just wanted to find a way to live with what she could have, and stop hurting for the things she could not.

The dragon glared at him."Mine,"she snarled, finding the human words at last, daring him to deny her. Challenging him to meet her halfway.

All he had to do was agree. Pattern agreed. She could live with that. She growled when he just looked at her, shock and fear in his eyes. The dragon reached for another word.

"Mate,"she said. "Mine."

He stayed silent, fear scent rising and the dragon twisted with misery. She tapped her human claws against his chest.

"Mine?"she asked sadly, knowing the answer.

He tried to touch her face, but she read the answer in his eyes. No passion. No fire. No claiming. Just fear and not-fear. She felt more chains of magic try to bind her. The dragon curled her claws helplessly and nodded understanding.

"Not mine,"she said dully.

Weak, useless pattern to hurt so much.

She spread her fingers and considered them intently. She reached forward slowly and drew a finger through his hair, coiling one length around her knuckle and tugging gently. She watched closely but saw no reaction beyond a slight frown. She wanted to continue to touch, but she did not have the right. Grief was beginning to overwhelm anger and she took a moment to regret the children she would never carry. Then she leaned forward and stole one last kiss.

He tasted of confusion, and she let her lips tell him what he had never taken the time to hear. Then she pulled all the magic within reach into her matrix and gave him one last look of regret.

"Sorry,"she said, for the children she would never give him. "Good-bye."

He cried out a word, perhaps the name she used to carry. It did not matter. Dragons did not require names. She pulled the knowledge from his matrix of how to step sideways between here and there, and disappeared.


	23. Chapter 23

She stood on the poisoned land and considered the tiny wooden buildings carefully. She raised a hand and the nearest shack exploded. Absorbing the energy released she moved on to the next building. One by one, each joined the blaze and the simple energy sink she wrapped around them absorbed the heat and energy greedily.

The reservoir she had created built slowly, then more intensely as the buildings burned. Pressure built with the reservoir, but still not enough for her needs. She curled her lip as she sensed the poison beneath her. That would do well. Draining the reservoir, she built the largest shield she had ever created and wove it into the land. She hesitated, uncertain what the land might do when she began the next step, and tied her power reservoir into the shield, just in case. The blaze behind was still burning and the power reservoir was refilling.

She slashed deep into the earth, pushing power straight down. The land screamed shrilly, shocked and betrayed. She curled her hand around it gently and promised it would all be over soon. Ruthlessly pushing further into the land she forced her shields to stretch with her until they curved far below the poison. Then she heated the lowest levels carefully, converting them to energy and using the expanding pressure to force the poison upward.

Land groaned and resisted, but she had no pity. The land would be healed, and she would leave the pain behind. She pushed her shields until the bottom edges met and flowed together. Then she let the building pressure push them outward. She let them pass through earth until she felt the boundaries of the Goblin Kingdom and all the sickness was contained within. She anchored the shields and sealed them. There would be no release for any of the energy within.

Atoms cracked and split their neighbors. Component molecules broke apart as structure was converted to atomic building blocks. Protons, neutrons, and electrons, devoid of identity as she vaporized everything except the rock itself.

It was difficult, bleeding the energy from the ground without melting it. Power sink after power sink drained energy and dumped it into the reservoir until she needed to let it grow larger or watch it rupture. Tied to the land, but not beneath it, the walls of the reservoir bulged dangerously.

Beneath her feet, land trembled, pain burning along her nerves until the screaming of the land matched the screaming in her head and she smiled, the pain welcome. Poison resisted and she snarled her hatred, letting her fury and unspeakable regrets hack and gouge and slash. Pockets of poison erupted, pustulent mixtures of chemicals and heavy metals that flashed into fiery incandescence only to be sucked into ebony black webbing that drew the fire with a clawing, bitter anger.

Pain of another sort started to build as her skin began to writhe. She laughed wildly and as the last of the poison evaporated she stared at the pulsing walls of her reservoir with hungry fascination. She reached for the power and screamed as an unexpected bolt of energy knocked her from her feet and thick shields settled around the reservoir, cutting off her access.

Stripping the shields around the Goblin land, she absorbed the power and turned to face whoever had dared to steal her salvation.

"Don't do this, Sarah,"Jareth begged.

She looked at him, puzzled. She was not stealing his Champion. He would still have the dragon. All that would be lost was the weakness within her, the one that hurt every time she looked at him.

She reached for the reservoir again.

He slapped her backwards with a careless flick of magic and she landed hard, anger flaring as he turned again to her reservoir and started to drain the energy. Snarling, she recklessly tapped Despair, letting the power flow into the sinks lying beneath the surface of the earth. She grinned with feral satisfaction as the influx of energy pushed dangerously at his shields, forcing him to stop draining energy in favor of just containing what he held.

Jareth snarled and held on tightly.

She stood and walked to him,"You must let go."

He shook his head, sweat beading his face as the pressure within the bubble continued to increase.

She peered into his face,"I do not understand."

"I will not let you destroy yourself,"he said grimly.

She blinked,"I will not be destroyed,"she said, surprised he would think such foolishness. Then she understood.

"You will not lose the Champion,"she said reassuringly. "The dragon will remain."

"Sarah...you will be destroyed. Nothing will be left but the dragon if you do this."

She tilted her head,"Of course." She grimaced,"Weak, foolish pattern. It wants what it cannot have. It hurts over things it cannot change." She reached out to touch his hair, then curled her hand as she remembered. It was not her right.

"I do not wish to hurt you,"she said, warning him as the shields on the reservoir pulsed.

"Then stop this,"he begged. "I cannot touch Despair. It does not answer to me."

"It understands me,"she said absently.

Jareth shivered slightly, then she felt him tap the land beneath to stabilize the shields. She regarded them with interest. It would not be much longer now.

"What does it understand, Sarah? Help me to understand,"Jareth said forcefully.

She reached out to touch his hair gently. "I do not know how,"she said sadly.

He stared at her grimly, then nodded shortly."So be it."

She thought he had given up, then she cried out in anguish as he wove himself into the magic and spread his matrix across the surface of the power reservoir.

"No!"she cried, horrified.

But it was too late and she could do nothing except grab for Despair and pull it into herself, cutting the power sinks free of the reservoir. Jareth groaned as the reservoir shifted and she frantically poured energy into his shields, compressing the reservoir and taking the strain off his matrix. If the reservoir shattered, it would tear him to pieces. She layered another shield over his, startled by the way they melded, joining strength.

She could not drain the energy, to do so would risk shattering the bubble. Despair flowed through her, pattern surging forward, burying the dragon.

Sarah abandoned the shields to Jareth and focused on the energy inside the bubble. Knowledge flashed into her mind and she drew a pattern with the energy, forcing it to realign. Protons and electrons settled into new forms. Despair retreated as the Goblin Kingdom knocked it aside. Memory became desire became knowledge and she pushed the energy here and tweaked it there, step by step. Then she felt Jareth squeeze his shields more tightly around the bubble and the pressure built to unbearable levels.

Carbon crystallized, resisting the pressure. Molecules slipped and were rearranged. Resistance became rigidity and the bubble shrank as energy became solid, reducing the strain. Soon, the reservoir had shrunk to the size of a child's swimming pool and Jareth pulled his matrix to safety. He kept the pressure steady, letting the shields become thin as energy bled away.

Sarah felt the first rip in the skin of the reservoir and she saw the bulge.

It exploded from the inside out, diamond tears raining across the land.


	24. Chapter 24

Jareth saw Gavin jump to his feet as the bedroom door opened and resisted the urge to snarl. Either more sensitive than his friend - or having less reason to Challenge- Dennis stood and stepped carefully between Gavin and the Goblin King. It was sufficient and Jareth was able to control his reaction with a small effort.

It was hard, though, even with several hours of sleep.

Jiann carefully closed the door behind her and looked at Jareth with mute inquiry. He nodded. The others had the right to hear. It was timing only, that Sarah had not yet taken Gavin's oath. The man was already oath-sworn in his heart. Jiann raised an eyebrow, but did not protest.

"She is resting. Her matrix is intact, if a bit stressed. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was link-shock. However from what you tell me, she was verbal and she has full memory of what occurred."Jiann summarized succinctly.

"But it is possible?"Jareth asked quietly.

"I don't see how,"Jiann replied."There is no sign of a cross-link pattern developing and it is at least two years too soon."

"She was feral,"Jareth said evenly.

Sensing undercurrents in the look Jiann sent her son, Dennis grabbed Gavin and hustled him toward the door. It was Dennis who had found both of them unconscious on the ground of the Goblin Kingdom. It was also Dennis who had taken it upon himself to walk the Barrier and track down Jiann. An impressive feat in and of itself, Jareth acknowledged, given his lack of knowledge about the Underground. Gavin had sensed the explosion of energy and had arrived in time to guard their bodies while they lay insensate.

Jareth would need to acknowledge the actions, but later, when their presence did not scrape his nerves raw and bleeding. Dennis, at least, seemed conscious of his condition and did his best to avoid inadvertent Challenge. Of course, of the two, he was most likely to have personal experience with the problem plaguing Jareth. Gavin was much younger, and a screaming offense to blistered sensitivities.

Jiann waited until the door closed, then frowned."Are you certain she was feral?"

Jareth nodded grimly,"Yes. Completely. I begin to understand why the Children of Fire were so dangerous."

Jiann snorted,"They were dragons."

Jareth shook his head, eyes dark."Beyond that. I could not bind her. As fast as I wove the chains, she absorbed them."

"How then can they be stopped?"Jiann asked, horrified.

Jareth grimaced."Her instinct is to absorb energy and convert it, rather than to shield. She is vulnerable to strikes that overwhelm her natural defenses. Hard and unexpected or overwhelming in strength."

"How were you able to control her?"Jiann asked curiously.

Jareth's mouth twisted."She did not wish to harm me." He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. "Is it possible that cross-links develop differently in humans?"

It occurred to him that perhaps the answer might lie with the Children of Water. They were so close to human as to make no difference. It was only those who developed a shift pattern who also developed the senses and lifespan more commonly associated with the Sidhe. Perhaps the selkies could tell them if the cross-link form developed abnormally in a human. Although, he supposed it might be completely normal from their point of view.

"There is another possibility,"Jiann said carefully. She sat on the sofa, careful not to disturb his outstretched body and touched his arm gently,"I sensed no third pattern yet, Jareth. It is too soon."

"But you agree the potential is there?"

"Yes,"Jiann said."Quite clearly. But it is potential only."

"Then explain what I saw,"Jareth demanded impatiently.

Jiann stared down at her hands, then spoke slowly."There are theories about the loss of Fire and the rarity of Water. Of all our forms, those are the two whose shift forms encompass another intelligence."

"I have heard of this theory,"Jareth said, trying to recall the details.

"She may very well have been completely feral as you suspect. It is simply that her animal shift form is no true animal, but a creature with an intelligence of its own,"Jiann explained.

"How does that have aught to do with the loss of half our spectrum?"Jareth demanded.

"It is not widely discussed outside Healer circles, but we believe the Sidhe may have evolved to become incompatible with those shift forms."Jiann said softly.

Jareth's eyes shot open. Jiann nodded regretfully.

"Our nature has evolved toward an emotional possessiveness that denies sexual possessiveness. It is what has allowed us to survive as a race, but it is in direct conflict with the primitive nature of our shift forms. As long as that animal nature does not possess an intelligence of its own, the matrix can accept both patterns, using the cross-link to act as a buffer and maintain control of the animal. But the land cannot resolve two equal but diametrically opposed intelligences, especially when the collective unconsciousness of our people no longer contains enough of Fire and Water to assist the land's understanding."

"What of her children?"Jareth asked, a new concern arising abruptly.

Jiann raised her hands, indicating uncertainty."Her human nature seems compatible with the dragon shift form. It is possible the land is responsible, but I do not believe this to be true. What little I have been able to discover about the Children of Fire seems to support all she has done. You are half-human, and she is full human. Your children should not reject Fire."

Jareth gave a short huff of unamused laughter,"It will be ironic indeed if our salvation proves to be the existence of part-bloods."

It also gave even more priority to the training Sarah was providing the part-bloods. He would have to see about recruiting some instructors to assist Dennis. Luckily, several young warriors of Air had already presented themselves at the castle, drawn by rumors of a Child of Fire. So far he had been setting them to riding the borders, but there were a few with the skill and patience to train young mages. Even better, at least two had sisters of Earth, one of whom was a fully qualified Healer. He rather thought the woman might be convinced to swear to the Queen's Court, especially if he threw in a minor title as a condition of service.

He wondered if Sarah would be pleased with such a gift.

Now that Water had been rediscovered, it was reasonable to assume they could start reclaiming portions of the Desert within the next couple of decades. Landed gentry would be required, and new territory was ever appealing to the ambitious. He would, however, have to be careful that their ambitions did not outweigh their compassion. It had occurred to him only belatedly, that the Desert was fully as large as the entirety of all the Inner Kingdoms thrice counted. Sarah's children and grandchildren would have large kingdoms to rule should such be their desire.

Jiann shifted position uneasily, then eyed him with aggravation."I warned you to be careful, Jareth."

He avoided her gaze."I did not anticipate triggering a sexual possessiveness in the shift form that does not exist for the human,"he said finally.

"But why risk it at all?"Jiann asked bewildered."Surely if it had been politically advisable, it could have been discussed first. You know humans are not rational in this area."

"Sarah has been imminently reasonable,"Jareth said bitterly.

Jiann sighed, quite aware of his state of mind. He did not wish to discuss this topic. Unfortunately, it was hard to tell a Healer to leave when she was also one's mother.

"I could be mistaken,"Jiann said finally,"But Sarah did not appear to understand the implications of some of my questions."

The question was deftly done, but Jareth did not want to discuss this issue either.

"Jareth,"Jiann said sharply."You have discussed the cross-link with her have you not?"

His pinched lips were clearly sufficient answer. She ran a disbelieving hand through her hair.

"But you were lovers for over a month. How did you avoid...?"she trailed off as the implications set in.

He avoided her eyes."I was careful."

"Apparently!"she snapped. "But why?"

Jareth yanked his legs up and lurched off the sofa with far more agility than grace. Jiann looked at him with wide concerned eyes.

"Jareth...?"

He whirled around, barely avoiding snarling his hair in the branches of the Dryad. He crossed his arms aggressively, not wanting to answer. Not wanting to hurt her. But she was his mother and she would never leave this alone.

"Because,"he bit out,"humans have odd notions about sex and what constitutes perversion. I wished to have more time to get her used to me before I introduced her to that aspect of my nature."

"Perversion?"Jiann echoed incredulously."Why would you..."her voice cut off abruptly and he saw dawning comprehension cross her face.

"I did not think you old enough to understand,"she said finally, quietly.

"I did not understand,"he admitted."Not at the time."

Jiann closed her eyes briefly and Jareth regretted reopening old wounds.

"He was a fool,"Jareth said bluntly.

Jiann's laugh was bitter."Yes, and you are your mother's son. Jareth, please understand this. He was a product of his culture and there was so much I did not understand. Please don't make my mistakes. Tell her. She needs to know, especially now."

Her Healer's eye took in the near convulsive trembling under his skin, the fear scent oozing from his pores that was barely one step removed from outright panic. Jareth sighed. It would not be long before he shifted feral. A word at the wrong time. An unexpected threat from an unanticipated direction. It would not matter. What would matter was what he might do. Her Swordmaster, in particular, would not be safe.

"I will tell her,"Jiann said quietly, standing.

"No!"he cut her off , controlling the urge to hiss with great difficulty.

"Look at you,"she snapped."Explainations will be a moot point if you delay much longer. She will see for herself and that introduction will be less than optimal."Her voice softened."Jareth, it is who we are. Even could you control indefinitely, she knows too many with shift forms for this to remain a secret for long. I am amazed you were able to hide anything at the castle. She must have seen cross-links while she was there."

Jareth shrugged,"I kept her away from them. Those she saw, she just assumed they were another species and I did not correct the assumption."

Jiann sighed,"I admire your ingenuity if not your intelligence. But this must end. You are in no shape to act rationally and she is clearly at similar risk. She planned to force shift and destroy her human shift pattern."

"The dragon..."Jareth hesitated, uncertain how to explain what he had sensed."It was very angry with me."

Jiann frowned,"She tried to destroy her human pattern, Jareth. The dragon may have been in control, but it was reacting to Sarah's emotional state. What could you have possibly done...?"her voice trailed off as Jareth glanced away, flushing. She continued to look at him with incomprehension. Then her eyes widened as she upgraded what she had assumed to be a flirtation to a crime of a much greater degree.

"Are you insane? "her voice rose in a near screech. She started to pace furiously. "How many times did I tell you they aren't rational on this subject? How many, Jareth?" He winced as she stabbed him in the chest with her finger repeatedly, forcing him to retreat.

"What..." poke.

"...was..." poke.

"...going..." poke.

"...through that bird-sized brain of yours?" Poke, poke, poke.

Retreating clear across the room, he glared sullenly, rubbing his chest with irritation. She threw up her hands and glared back at him.

"I distinctly recall having several conversations, Jareth. Did you not nod your head repeatedly as I described human primitive responses? Was that you? Because if it wasn't, I have another son who looks much like you."

"It wasn't ..."he started.

"Who was she?"Jiann demanded.

"Corrine,"he said pleasantly, taking malicious pleasure in watching her sputter to a halt. However, she recovered rapidly.

"Political?"she asked narrow-eyed.

He shrugged,"Potentially."

"The why take the risk? Particularly now?"Jiann asked sceptically.

Jareth hunched his shoulders slightly, not as comfortable with his logic as he had been earlier.

"Sarah admires her,"he admitted.

One delicate eyebrow arched disdainfully,"So you thought to reward admiration by setting her up to be assassinated by a vengeful dragon?"

"I did not know the dragon would react so violently."

Jiann tapped her foot impatiently. "Forget the bloody dragon, Jareth! Why would you take such a foolish risk with Sarah?"

He avoided her gaze and focused on the Dryad,"Humans often see value in that which is possessed by another,"he said carefully.

It was not a completely unfamiliar concept. Why would a woman take a risk on an unknown male when she could consider one whose skills and flaws were already known? True, humans made it more about sexual competition, but the result was still the same, was it not? Engaged interest.

"It seemed a good idea at the time,"he muttered.

Jiann closed her mouth and eyed him with genuine concern. It was not an unreasonable look, given his condition. Only children who had not yet achieved the age of reason were as subject to the primitive impulses of the cross-link pattern. They at least had the excuse of sheer hormonal imbalance. Their emotional instability was less dangerous, being driven by transient physical desires rather than the emotional commitment of an adult.

"Make me understand,"she said gently.

Jareth shrugged disconsolately."What is to understand?"he said softly."She cares not." He smiled painfully, a wry twist of the lips that did not touch his eyes."I am a physical diversion whose time is coming to a natural end."

He would have his Champion. He would have his Queen. He would even have his Kingdom safe from harm. Everything he had ever hoped for was finally his, and yet, all he really wanted was for her to look at him the way she once done in a dream. It was foolishness.

But there it was.

Jiann sighed,"If that is true, I am truly sorry, Jareth. But is it possible you are mistaken? She seemed happy enough with you."

Jareth looked away."I have seen the way she could look at me."

Jiann narrowed her eyes shrewdly. "There are times I think that spell did you no favors. Jareth, did you ever see the way she looked at you when you weren't looking?"

Hope was painful, but he couldn't help giving her a sidelong look.

She smiled,"Quite as foolish as you upon occasion. You were both so careful around each other. You had your worries, Jareth. Is it possible she had worries of her own?"

He wanted to tell her about Sarah's lack of anger and jealousy, but even more he wanted her to be correct.

"Talk to her, Jareth."Jiann said quietly. "Before one of you hurts the other beyond repair."

He swallowed, then nodded curtly.

"Today?"Jiann persevered.

He twitched nervously, then nodded again.

She collected her things, paused briefly to brush his hair with her hand, then left him alone in the living room. In the bedroom he could hear Sarah's even breathing and a softly singing spider protecting her dreams. He settled onto the sofa and set himself to waiting patiently until she awoke.


	25. Chapter 25

**_A/N: Okay folks, this is where the story earns it's Mature rating. No joke. I tried to write it PG, but it didn't work that way. Just a heads up since some people are squicked more by sex than violence. Children and the easily scarred, run away now. By comparison, if Laurell K Hamilton can't traumatize you, you'll be okay._**

* * *

She still felt bruised, but the numbness that had wrapped her brain in a mental fog of cotton balls was gone. Her weariness was purely mental, and she wondered if anyone would noticed if she stayed where she was for the day. She wasn't on-shift until the day after tomorrow and as she thought about that, for the first time in months she felt as if her job as a firefighter was beginning to intrude on her real life. It wasn't the work. It was just time to move on. 

For a lot of things.

She was not suicidal. She had never been suicidal. Worse, the dragon had not been suicidal. She had simply been pragmatic. The Sarah pattern was causing pain; eliminate the Sarah pattern. It was more terrifying than any of the close calls she had ever had fighting fire. She felt betrayed by her own mind. Because dragon or no, it had also been her in some odd way.

She would have slaughtered Corrine and felt perfectly justified doing so.

She had thought she could learn to accept Jareth the way he was, but she had not counted on the dragon losing control. She might have joked about tearing off heads, but she had not actually planned to do it. Her dragon had decided otherwise. Next time, she might not stop.

The sound of footsteps in the living room told her that she was not alone. Another moment of thought decided it was probably Jareth. She fought a desire to pretend she had not heard him. Go back to sleep and pretend this was all a bad dream. She didn't want to go where the next few steps would take her. Unfortunately, she had no choice.

She couldn't leave him. He needed her. Despair needed her to be a bridge;she hadn't imagined that flinch of pain and instinctive withdrawal on Jareth's part when Despair tried to reach out to him last night. The Goblin Kingdom needed her and she needed all the things being his Champion allowed her to be. Leaving him would not stop her from loving him, it would simply remove all the good things she could do in spite of the pain.

She didn't want to believe the land had set her up for this. To be honest, she was not sure the land understood enough to have done this deliberately. But it was the fact she understood Despair that let her bear its touch, the loneliness and angry protest that kept flailing away, wondering why it wasn't good enough to love. She could not help wondering, if he ever truly understood her, would he flinch from her the way he recoiled from Despair?

So...she was sexually possessive. That was racial, and built into her genes. It was an instinct so deep she had never questioned it or how it affected her until she met him. But it was only a biological need. It was even one that most people had trouble meeting . Promises were always being broken. She was more than an animal. She had accepted that this would be hard. Now it was time to put her money where her mouth was.

He was worth her loyalty as a friend and as a warrior. She was not leaving. She could not ask him to change as a man, not when he would not understand and not when she wasn't asking him to control his impulses for twenty or thirty years. She would be asking for centuries. How could she ask something like that? She ignored the tiny voice inside that warned her she just didn't want to find out that Jareth didn't feel she was worth the trouble.

And why would she want his loyalty as a sacrifice?

She could not stop the resentful thought that if he cared about her, he'd want her loyalty as badly as she wanted his. That he'd give her what she needed without resentment because of what he'd get in return. Her own desperate longing for him to be worthy of her loyalty, for her to be able to hand over her heart in safety was echoed faintly by Despair. She could ask. He might even agree. Then she would wonder for eternity if he regretted the bargain he had made. She wanted his loyalty freely offered, not wrestled from him at gunpoint.

If she loved him, truly honestly loved him, she would have to find a way to accept him. Otherwise, she would destroy what they could have, in the name of something not possible. Not with him. It was not a bargain she would have made for a human, but then, why would she? A human male who could not offer his loyalty was broken and she was better off without him. This was not the same thing at all. She knew it, in her heart, and in her head. She was more than an animal.

She had to be.

He turned when she opened the door and she flinched from the searching look he sent her. She escaped temporarily into the bathroom, going so far as to get a shower trying to put off the inevitable. Eventually though, the hot water ran cold and Jareth was still waiting. Ignoring him as best she could, she walked naked to her bedroom and dug through her dresser for some clean clothes.

For one wild moment, she wanted to dress to the nines. Find something slinky and sexy and damn well show him what he had thrown away. She sighed and grabbed a comfortable pair of jeans. It wasn't like he had ever seemed to notice her clothes before. Nor had she ever inspired him to spontaneous bursts of passion. She recalled the Queen's ethereal beauty and cringed.

A t-shirt it would be.

Scrubbing a towel over her short-cropped hair eliminated the last of her excuses and she finally padded back into the living room. Jareth was standing where she had left him and she eyed him warily. When no accusations were immediately forthcoming she swallowed painfully.

"We have to talk,"she said quietly, wincing at the cliche.

He ducked his head and peered at her with that odd sideways motion that combined uncertainty with evaluation.

"Did I hurt you, Sarah?"he asked unexpectedly.

She paused, flexing her shoulders remembering the blast of magic that had knocked her off her feet.

"I'm okay,"she said."You didn't hit me that hard."

He frowned, then shook his head."That was not what I meant."

Oh.

She picked at the back of the sofa and sighed. "It's not your fault,"she said flatly. "I knew what you were when I decided to try and make a go of this relationship."

His shoulders twitched and when she looked up she found him watching her, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Sarah..."he started.

She shook her head. "Don't. Please don't apologize,"she begged, not certain she could stand to hear him explain that it didn't mean anything.

"I will not,"he said slowly."But Imust explain something."His nostrils flared slightly, then he shook his head, a confused expression on his face.

"Sarah..."he asked carefully,"what am I to you?"

Expecting anything except another question she found herself robbed of words. She could feel the answers swirling through her brain, but even though she intended to answer, she found she couldn't verbalize anything. Not an answer. Not a protest. Not even an accusation. He stared at her, his shoulders twitching awkwardly and she frowned, trying to understand the question.

How did she answer a question like that?

Goblin King? He knew that. Consort? He knew that too. Lover? Was that what he was? When she couldn't trust him? When she wasn't sure he wanted her - at least beyond a mild transitory pleasure he could achieve with anyone. Friend?

"I don't know how to answer that question,"she said honestly.

His nostrils flared again and his head tilted back, staring at her unblinking while she just looked back, confused and disconcerted. He took three quick strides toward her, invading her space. He laid his hand against her breastbone.

"In here, Sarah. What truth whispers to you? What am I to you?"he demanded.

Tears burned in the back of her throat and she wanted to find a nice safe phrase. Something romantic. Heart's Desire. The other half of her soul. Soulmate. Her best friend. Her lover. Her love. But he was none of these things. He had never been those things. Perhaps they had never had a chance. Perhaps she just wasn't capable of what he needed her to be. She just knew the truth burning on her tongue was not the one she wanted to speak.

"Sarah?"he pleaded.

She shuddered, feeling the heat of his hand and the violence of the needs coiling inside her force the tears forward and she sucked in a painful breath that burned and did nothing to ease the ache in her chest.

"My destruction,"she answered softly, the tears falling free to splash against his hand.

His head jerked up and his eyes widened.

"I'm not sure I can do this anymore,"she admitted, the tears falling hot enough to scald. She felt his hand tremble against her chest but she had to finish this.

"Sarah..."he started to whisper.

She shook her head blindly,"I'll kill someone next time, Jareth. Please..."she begged,"I...

His hands curled over her shoulders painfully and she tried to find the words to send him away. To wish away the dream. He was staring at her face and she noted in passing that his eyes had bled to gold and his fingers were clenching and relaxing , kneading her shoulders in a strange rhythmic pattern. He shook his head sharply and she frowned as she noticed he had begun to pant shallowly.

Before she could ask what was wrong, the door to her apartment opened and Gavin walked in. His face lit up when he saw her and she noticed a bucket in his hand. More worrisome was the way Jareth had frozen, fingers digging painfully into her shoulders. Dennis appeared behind Gavin and he looked first to her, then glanced at Jareth. His head jerked up, nostrils flaring.

In slow motion she saw his hand reach for Gavin, the expression on his face shifting to horror.

Sarah stumbled, cold air blowing back her hair as Jareth vanished. Sound burst from her throat, a strangled yell of warning. She didn't understand what had happened but she knew they were in danger. Gavin was still turning his head to look curiously at Dennis when Jareth slammed into existence directly in front of him and screamed. Gavin went white as feathers exploded across Jareth's body. Clothes vanished and seven foot wings unfurled with a crack. Jareth screamed again, the sound shifting higher, an avian screech of fury and challenge. Claws curled into Gavin's jacket and tossed him with casual strength against the wall.

Sarah heard bones snap and she threw herself forward barely in time to thrust her arm between them as Jareth darted forward and lunged for Gavin's throat. Razor-edged canines sank into her forearm and she went to her knees in pain as flesh tore. Jareth wrenched his head free, her blood staining his mouth and he snarled as he hopped back a step, wings flaring dangerously.

She heard something crash to the floor and he spun around, snapping his teeth furiously. Dennis grabbed Gavin and dragged him to his feet. Gavin staggered unsteadily but managed to stay vertical. Dennis glanced at Sarah, a frantic question in his eyes.

"Go,"she ordered.

He nodded and wrapped his arms around Gavin. Both men vanished. Jareth whipped around again, hissing furiously and she climbed painfully to her feet, her arm making her clumsy. Blood flowed in a steady stream down her arm and she watched the blood drip on the floor with a dazed sort of fascination. She flinched when Jareth appeared in front of her. Not teleportation this time, just that fast. He reached for her arm and she watched with morbid interest as his tongue darted out and explored the wound.

His tongue was slightly rough and she shivered as he licked the wound clean. She wondered if he would simply make the bleeding worse, but his saliva must have contained a coagulant because when he finished, the tear had stopped bleeding. He sniffed at the wound thoroughly, then dropped her arm. She caught his hand intending to study his claws, only to notice with some surprise that the Consort ring had shifted with him. She reached to touch it.

He yanked his hand away from her and hissed malevolently.

Deciding retreat might be in order, she headed for the bathroom. He hissed again when she moved, wings flaring, knocking against the walls. He turned to glare at the plaster, then spun back around to locate her. She dug through an old first aid kit and wrapped her arm in gauze and bandages. He stared from the safety of the doorway, occasionally poking at the kit with a claw. He leapt back and hissed threateningly when it fell to the floor with a loud clatter. Keeping her eyes on him she scooped everything back in the case and left it on the counter.

He obligingly gave way when she stepped back into the living room, then stared at her with a steady unblinking gaze. She caught her breath as she tried to make sense of his features. The wings began at his neck, running the length of his body and down the back of his legs. At a guess, he was optimized for both gliding and aerial acrobatics. He was covered in brown and white feathers, longer ones on his chest and upper arms tapering to small ones on his forearms and legs. The feathers at his groin and on his face appeared to be more of a down and she wondered briefly if it was as soft as it looked.

When he turned, she caught sight of long tail feathers that swept over his buttocks and fanned out for balance when he whirled rapidly. It occurred to her that those feathers could probably fan out in flight, closing the gap between his legs and increasing his ability to glide on long flights.

His face had shifted oddly. Cheekbones and eyebrow ridges had sharpened, becoming more pronounced, deepening the set of his eyes. The added depth and the feather half-mask no doubt provided protection from wind at high altitudes. It also gave his golden eyes a cruel glitter that was familiar to anyone who had ever seen a bird of prey. His nose and mouth were still human although the nose had broadened and flattened somewhat. His feet and hands were human, but fingers and toes had become hardened claws.

Oddly, he still had hair. Threaded through with feathers, it swept back from his face and down the back of his head, more like a mane if such a word could be used for describing something so essentially avian. The barn owl origins were obvious and she studied his face with fascination. It was when he ducked his head to the side and peered at her curiously that she realized where the familiar gesture came from.

He screeched at her.

Glancing away from him in case he had interpreted her stare as aggressive she moved to shut the front door only to freeze when he darted in front of her, wings flaring wide. He screeched again. Luckily, the sweep of his wings knocked the door closed and prevented the neighbors from getting a good look, but now she was trapped with a bird man who was looking increasingly hostile.

"Jareth?"she asked dubiously.

He fanned his wings and screeched again. She jumped when he darted forward suddenly, his teeth closing painfully on her shoulder. She jerked away as he bit her again and raised her hands to protect her throat as he screeched and bit a third time. She backed away hastily and he screeched, then grunted when his wings thumped into the wall. He spun around angrily, jumping backwards when his wing knocked a painting off the wall. He leaped for the sofa, squawking in pain when it fell over with a thud, throwing him toward the patio doors. Sarah grabbed for him too late.

He landed awkwardly and spun, his wings getting fouled in the gauzy curtains. Sarah heard material rip, but not enough to release him. He squawked again, this time in panic as his wings got progressively more tangled. He started biting and screeching, struggling furiously and she panicked as he started bashing against the doors as he fought the curtains. Throwing herself forward she grabbed for him, missing as he turned and getting tossed partway across the room when his wing slammed into her upper arm. He didn't notice. He kept shrieking, ignoring her yells and finally she darted forward when he bent and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, tucking her face into his throat to keep from being bitten.

She wasn't strong enough to pin him against the wall. Nor could she knock him to the floor without endangering the wings. Desperately she did the only thing she could think of. She sank her teeth into his throat and hung on. Instantly he froze, owl attention refocused on the dragon with terrifying abruptness. She could feel the shudders traveling through his body, but she couldn't see with her face buried in his feathers.

Without loosening her grip on his throat she cautiously extended her arms and felt her way cautiously along his wings. He shuddered again and she waited for him to explode. He made an odd terrified sound in the back of his throat, but otherwise did not move. Slowly, she untangled the gauze from his wings, working blind and as gently as she could. He squawked once when she inadvertently pulled out a feather, but otherwise remained still. He seemed to calm down as she worked and finally his wings were free. She cautiously removed her teeth from his throat, coughing slightly at the taste of his feathers.

He bit her.

She yelled in reaction to the hard, painful nip and pushed him away. His eyes widened, and he sidled sideways, a cautious glance at the curtains telling her that he at least had enough brain cells working to figure out basic cause and effect. He began to circle her, avoiding the Dryad and forcing her back into the open area of the living room where he could move his wings.

She kept one eye on him warily and pulled at the neck of her t-shirt to see what kind of damage he had done to her shoulders. She was relieved not to find blood but was certain he had bit hard enough to bruise bone. She glared at him sourly. He had stopped circling and had resumed screeching at her.

Uncertain what he wanted, she was about to see if food would help when he darted back in and bit her again.

"Damn it, quit doing that!"she yelled at him.

He screeched louder and went for her other shoulder. She grabbed for his head, and when he ducked away to avoid her hand, his wing clipped her on the shoulder. She stumbled, falling against him. He got his feet tangled with hers and they both went down. Sarah twisted frantically to protect her face, landing on her hands and knees. He landed hard against her back, flattening her and knocking the wind out of her. She whipped her arms over her head protectively and cringed in anticipation of an attack.

He crooned oddly.

Initially just relieved he wasn't screeching in her ear, it took her a moment to register the fact he was lying still, and had hooked his chin over her shoulder. Cautiously she lowered her arms and turned her head slightly. He was watching her with an unblinking golden gaze. He crooned again, then began to nibble at the back of her neck.

She stared at him, astonished. Then she started to laugh.

"I'll be damned,"she told him with a grin.

He ignored her, nipping at the back of her shoulder. Sarah winced. That had to stop. Levering her body she twisted around until she was on her back and narrowed her eyes at him. He waved his wings a bit uncertainly, then his head darted forward. Catching his jaw with her left hand she wrapped her fingers across his lower teeth and gave him a stern look.

"No,"she said sharply.

His wings snapped upward and she felt him tense.

"Gently,"she said firmly. She eyed the feathers on his shoulder doubtfully and decided that he would learn nothing if she started choking. So she shifted her grip on his mouth until she cradled his jaw. Then she leaned up and nipped gently at his lower lip.

His wings waved uncertainly and when she let go of his jaw he snapped his teeth at her several times. She just kept a firm expression on her face and waited to see what he would do. He ducked his head toward her shoulder, rolling his eyes back to watch her face as he bit gently using the exact pressure she had used on his lip. Her gasp surprised her as much as him and when he nipped gently at her throat she moaned softly, her entire body tensing as her stomach clenched almost painfully.

The feathers on his face tickled her skin as he worked his way to her other shoulder.

She should stop him, she thought distantly as he nipped again. Instead, she arched against him, the ache in her lower body increasing to a throbbing pressure as he shifted his hips and settled against her. This was probably wrong, but she discovered that she didn't care. For the first time since she and Jareth had become lovers he was the one approaching her and she found her hunger to take what he was offering overriding her common sense.

He was feral. She had figured out that much. She had no idea what the deal was with the half-avian shift form, but whoever he was right now, he wanted her and she found herself wondering what it might mean if she could bind him on the reflex level. She still remembered her dragon's conviction that Jareth was her mate simply by virtue of mating. If his shift form felt the same, maybe she couldn't change Jareth, but maybe she could reach him on a physical level.

Barn owls were monogamous, she remembered.

He reached for her and she heard fabric tear as he snagged his claws in her t-shirt. He yanked at it, catching her painfully with the tips of his claws, but he clearly remembered the disaster with the curtains because he used his claws to slice his way free, then tossed the defeated t-shirt away with a satisfied hiss. His eyes gleamed at her when she laughed. Pushing against his chest she maneuvered both of them to their knees, then stood cautiously.

He hissed with distress, then watched intently as she undid her jeans. He reached for her, then hesitated, eyes darting to look at the t-shirt. He hissed uncertainly as she stepped out of her clothes and kicked them to the side. His eyes widened when she undid her bra and he snapped his teeth uneasily as it joined her jeans and underwear.

She watched him curiously, wondering how he would react. He reached forward, slowly drawing the backs of the claws on his right hand up her left leg. Both hands reached for her hips. He glanced at her face once when she tensed, but his hands were gentle and she could barely feel the tips of his claws against the skin of her buttocks. He leaned forward and scented along her leg, pausing at her crotch, then continuing up across her stomach. The feathers in his hair brushed against the underside of her bare breast and she shivered at the sensation and felt her thighs dampen.

His nostrils flared and he regarded her groin with interest. He leaned forward curiously, but Sarah was not about to let his teeth get anywhere near flesh that tender. Not with his tendency to bite. She knelt slowly, feeling his feathers pull softly against her damp skin. She reached to wrap her arms around his waist and discovered his wings were in the way. It occurred to her belatedly, that they were going to have to do this with her on her knees. With the way his wings were attached, there was no room for her legs.

Deciding they would get to that later, she rubbed her cheek against the down on his face, delighting in the soft texture. He crooned softly in her ear and she shivered with pleasure as the almost subsonic rumble vibrated along her bones. He flinched when she kissed him gently and he frowned with confusion as she sucked gently on his lower lip. He allowed her to do what she wanted for a minute or so, then he pushed her backwards.

Briefly revisiting her fantasy about the oubliette, she kept her lower legs bent backwards, letting her butt and shoulders touch the floor. Briefly thinking warm and fuzzy thoughts about all the sword fighting she had been doing that allowed her to get into this position in the first place, she waited with some nervousness to see what he would do.

He regarded her breasts with interest and she yelped when he nipped gently. His head jerked up and his wings flared with alarm.

"Gently,"she managed to say."Very gently."

He frowned, then tilted his head and stared at her chest with an expression of intent concentration. Just when she was beginning to think she'd have to take over he leaned in and copied the way she had sucked on his lower lip. She guided his head to her nipple and when she groaned and arched as sensation shot through her, he continued enthusiastically. Her hips jerked and when he reached to hold her still, she caught his hand out of reflex and placed it firmly back on the floor.

He stayed that way for a few seconds, but when she moved again, she had to repeat the action. It wasn't until he did it a third time that she realized he was watching her with amusement. He playfully threatened her with his claws only to grin with delight when she grabbed his hand. Sarah snorted and let him go. He kept his weight on his palms as he gently held her down, and when she didn't feel any claws bite she let him do what he wanted.

She was throbbing painfully by the time he nibbled and sucked his way across her lower stomach and she didn't resist as he carefully used the backs of his hands to push her knees further apart. His nostrils flared and for a moment she thought he seemed confused. He lowered his head and scented carefully. He stayed that way for so long she began to feel like the victim of someone's rude German Shepard. Suddenly he darted his head forward and licked tentatively at the folds around her vagina.

The unexpected sensation forced a strangled moan from her throat and she bucked and twisted violently against his hands. He instinctively increased the pressure against her hipbones, and eyed her thoughtfully. When she just panted slightly, he leaned forward and began licking in earnest. She started shaking when he accidentally drew his tongue across her clitoris, and he probed curiously at the swell of flesh with the tip of his tongue. She started to writhe and he ignored her as she cried out, splitting his attention between her clitoris and the swollen opening into her body.

He seemed determined to experiment, and when he settled into a rhythm that had her clutching at the moss on the floor she realized he had been paying attention to which motion drew the most reaction from her body. She was almost crying as she peaked and the sound she made as she came was a near twin to his earlier screech. His head shot up and before she knew what he planned, he had surged forward, digging claws into the floor by her head and sinking his teeth into her shoulder.

She arched in a combination of pleasure and pain, then gasped in surprise when he thrust hard into her body. His wings bated fiercely, setting up a strange vibration that took her one minute to identify and two to decide she liked. A lot. He thrust rapidly, faster and more shallow than she was used to and she almost didn't recognize the tightening in her body until she came again. He didn't even pause, just thrust harder to compensate for the increased resistance of her body and the feel of his rapid thrusting tightened her body again.

She lost track of the number of times she orgasmed, each one a shallow peak that brought pleasure without easing the steadily increasing tension in her body. He was breathing hard with effort as he continued to pump into her, faster and faster, the tension in her body forcing him deeper as he thrust harder. She began to thrash her head, desperate for the release her body was promising. Her vision was going dark around the edges, the painful cramping of her stomach muscles making it hard to breathe. He increased his pace frantically, bating his wings. He half lifted her off the ground and the shift in position brought him hard against her and she arched helplessly as he did it again.

He grunted suddenly and she felt an incredible, unfamiliar increase in pressure as he swelled within her. He rocked forward as he froze, pulsing strongly. Heat flooded her pelvis and her choked scream echoed his earlier screech as the tension in her lower body peaked savagely, then cut loose without warning.

The last thing she saw was his face lowering to rest in the hollow of her shoulder as everything went white.


	26. Chapter 26

Sarah stretched, body aching and contented. And cold. Grumbling with irritation she raised her head, realizing from the feel of her knees that she couldn't have slept long enough to shift heal. Just a brief period of unconsciousness. She shivered with pleasant memory and yawned, looking for whatever had disturbed her.

A loud authoritative banging rattled the front door and she scrambled to her feet in shock as a man's voice called out.

"This is the police. Open up,"the man directed.

Sarah froze, her eyes darting around the apartment. Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. It looked like World War Three on a weekend. Christ, and was that blood? She took a quick step forward, relieved to find it was just the remains of her mangled t-shirt. Oh hell. Where was Jareth?

"Police,"the man shouted, accompanied by another bang. "Open up."

Damn. No shields. What the hell happened to the shields? She had a vague memory of reaching for any power source to fuel her escape as a dragon and belatedly realized she must have sucked up the aural and visual shields Gavin had set to allow Dobbs and her fellow firefighters to visit without thinking they had fallen down the rabbit hole.

Her neighbors probably thought she'd been murdered.

Not they didn't already think she was strange. Mrs. McClevey was convinced she was a hooker what with Gavin, Dennis, and now Jareth coming and going at all hours of the night. She had even shown the nosy old woman her turnout gear one day, but from the scandalized look in those beady eyes, Sarah had a sneaky suspicion the woman thought she was playing firefighter when Dobbs and the others stopped by - not actually was one.

Gloria Turnbull thought Tent City was a front for the Chinese Mafia - which was so ironic it was beyond words. Dan Lesham had watched Kill Bill one too many times and thought she was an assassin for the Triad. Never mind that the sword was all wrong. Troy Marshal was a police officer and had seen her stumbling back to the apartment more than once, bruised and banged up after a training session with Gavin. He had Sarah pegged as an abused girlfriend, and - once all the teen-agers in the training classes discovered Jenner's chocolate chip cookies - had Gavin in first place as a drug dealing, woman battering, pedophile.

All in all, she was quite the subject of laundry room gossip.

More banging, and this time they were threatening to break down the door. Where the hell was Jareth? A flash of white in the corner of her eye had her spinning to find him curled up in the dining room, stuffed as far into the vines in the corner as his wings would let him. He was shaking and didn't react at all to the agitated fairies darting around his face. Nor did he respond when she called his name. She tried to throw a basic visual shield around him, only to stare in consternation as her shield hit his own and rebounded. With no experience to help her find a way around his natural defenses, she grabbed an arm and hauled him to his feet.

"Just a minute,"she called, trying to sound as if she'd just woken up.

Shoving him into her bed, she threw several blankets on top of him, trying to cover the wings and tried to throw a shield around the room. It rebounded as well and she had to settle for closing the door and praying Jareth would stay put and not make any noise. She dashed for the door.

"Sorry,"she tried to mutter sleepily as she pulled the door open,"I work night-shift..."

Mrs McClevey's eyes widened in triumphant horror while both police officers dropped their eyes rapidly, then brought them back to her face with admirable speed. She glanced down, then yelped.

"Shit!"

She slammed the door. There was silence on the other side as she dashed across the room for her jeans. Her underwear was missing and she could only hope no one stepped on it. At this point, she almost hoped the moss had eaten it. Zipping herself into her leather jacket she reopened the door and smiled sheepishly at the two blank-faced officers.

"Sorry,"she muttered."Half-asleep."

"Sarah Williams?"one of the officers asked.

She nodded.

"We had a reports of screaming and the sounds of a struggle. Could we come in?"the second officer asked politely.

She opened her mouth to say no and the hell with the consequences when Gavin and Dennis came bounding up the stairs. She almost sighed with relief. Perfect. Gavin would do.

"Sarah?"Gavin asked worriedly."We saw the police cars..."

"Hey honey. That was fast,"she said.

Gavin looked at her blankly and she resisted the urge to kick him. She needed a plausible boyfriend, not a man with feathers.

"The officers were asking about the noise,"she admitted, not having to fake a flush."I was just explaining we got a little carried away this morning."

Gavin's blue eyes started to gleam as he caught the stress she placed on the word 'we' and Dennis coughed. Gavin sauntered forward and kissed her on the cheek.

"Did we? I don't remember. Too busy with other things on my mind, "he said, his voice a seductive murmur that still carried clearly to Mrs McClevey on the other side of the hall.

"Ask her about the blond man,"Mrs McClevey hissed at the officers."He's the one that's been staying there. He never left the apartment all morning."

Both officers were studying the arm Gavin had slung around Sarah's shoulders and before Sarah could scornfully ask if the woman could watch both sides of the building, a door slammed inside the apartment. Two sets of eyes hardened professionally.

Dennis stepped up beside Gavin, as if nervous and in need of reassurance. He twined his fingers in Gavin's free hand and stared anxiously at the police.

"Jareth? Yes, he lives with us. Is he okay? "

Both police officers dropped their gazes to Dennis clutching Gavin's hand, then back over to Sarah standing comfortably under his arm. Mrs. McClevey's mouth had dropped open unattractively and her upper lip curled as if she had just smelled something disgusting.

"Well I never,"she said.

Gavin eyed her disdainfully,"You weren't invited."

While Mrs. McClevey turned purple, the older of the two officers requested to speak with Jareth. Gavin shrugged and reached for the door. Sarah saw his expression alter slightly when his hand touched the wood and she felt a whisper of magic as he cast a hasty visual shield. It would not last long and god knew whether Jareth would be affected.

Jareth was standing by the patio doors, silently staring out the paned glass at the fountain. Sarah gave a quick sigh of relief when she saw he was back to normal. Well, normal for him anyway. His blond hair hung snarled and oddly colorless for him. He turned his head slowly, almost painfully as they filed into the living room. His eyes flickered as he glanced at Gavin's arm around her shoulders but otherwise did not react.

"Sir?"Officer Peterson asked.

Jareth turned completely around. He wore a pair of jeans artfully ripped at the knees and his horned moon pendant. His feet were bare and Sarah saw the officers take in the lack of covers on the now righted sofa and the open bedroom door of the one-bedroom apartment. Dennis raised an incredulous eyebrow at the damage. The ripped curtains, the smashed and askew paintings. She didn't remember knocking the TV off the entertainment unit although she did have a vague memory of landing on the coffee table when Jareth tangled his wings in the curtains.

She winced and glanced sideways at the police officers only to find them staring with astonishment at the Dryad. Gavin's shield was too hastily built to do more than twist reality slightly and no doubt the officers saw a naked woman wearing an elaborate tree costume.

"Performance artist,"she said brightly.

The spider was hunkered defensively on the back of the sofa, fangs bared nervously. Sarah swallowed when Officer Taylor glanced down and stroked her absently.

"Nice cat,"Taylor told Sarah.

Sarah smiled weakly.

"Could I see some ID, Sir?"Peterson requested.

Jareth blinked slowly, then silently disappeared into the bedroom. When he reappeared he had a British passport in his hand. Sarah felt a flicker of surprise. The document was real. She couldn't sense any magic about it at all. She glanced at Jareth but he was keeping his eyes fixed solemnly on Officer Peterson.

Peterson flipped through the passport.

"Mr...Daoine?"

"It's pronounced 'Dane',"Gavin said helpfully when Jareth did not respond.

Peterson flicked a glance at Gavin, then ignored him.

"It says here that you are a musician. Is that correct Mr. Dane?"Peterson continued.

Jareth nodded slightly.

Peterson studied him for a moment, then his mouth twisted."Do you have a drug problem Mr. Dane?"

"Hey!"Sarah said angrily.

Peterson ignored her. She set her jaw and narrowed her eyes.

"You wanted to see that everyone was okay. You have done that. If you plan to write us a ticket, please do so. Otherwise, I'd like you to leave now,"she said firmly.

Before either officer could respond, there was a brief knock on the front door and Dobbs poked his head around the frame.

"Sarah? You okay? Julian heard the call come in on the scanner." He eyed the group in the living room warily. Sarah gave a mental groan as Eric and Mike walked in behind him. Yep. Julian must have called Dobbs who promptly called the two firefighters who most closely matched Minnesota line backers in size. All of them had seen the illusioned version of the Dryad before and aside from admiring looks, ignored her presence.

That, more than anything, convinced the police officers that the Dryad, at least, was on the up and up. Mike flopped onto the sofa, patting the surprised spider. Eric grabbed the only surviving chair. Before the inquisition could start, a noise from the kitchen had everyone spinning. Jenner glared around the room as she carried in a large tray of chocolate chip cookies.

"Jenner! Darling! Have you decided to quit this life of drudgery and come marry me?"Eric asked, leaping to take the tray from her hands. Jenner sniffed and stomped back into the kitchen. Eric grinned, then stared blankly at his feet where the coffee table now lay in pieces. He recovered quickly and held out the tray toward the police officers.

"Cookie?"

Peterson shook his head, then both officers regarded the trio of firefighters squabbling over the cookie tray with disbelief. Dobbs righted the TV and plugged it in while Mike looked around and whistled.

"You throw a party and forget to invite us?"

Sarah bared her teeth,"Private party."

"Oh,"Mike said sagely."One of those."

Eric eyed the destruction with an admiring, slightly wistful eye."Enjoy it while you can. Once you have kids...Pffft."

Dobbs successfully managed to get the TV turned on and Mike cheered as he turned to the sports channel. Sarah was about to ask what they thought they were doing when her cell phone rang. Donald was on the other line looking for Gavin. She handed him the phone.

"Donald says your cell is turned off."

Gavin winced,"Oops. What's he want?"

"Something about the name for the business,"Sarah replied, her eyes on Jareth who was looking washed out and not quite there.

Gavin grinned,"What about Green Goblin Enterprises?"

Sarah snorted,"Do you value your life?"

Gavin looked at Taylor."Hear that? Uttering death threats in front of a police officer,"he said with mock horror.

Taylor narrowed his eyes and looked at Peterson who just looked bored. Peterson glanced at Sarah.

"Could I speak with you for a minute alone, Ms. Williams?"

She glanced at Jareth, then Dennis who nodded slightly. She followed Peterson out into the hall and waited while the police officer reassured Mrs. McClevey that no one had been murdered and that it was safe to return to her apartment. He waited until she reluctantly closed her door and gazed at Sarah speculatively.

"I'm not passing judgment, Ms. Williams. What you do in private is your business, but if you are being hurt, I'm here to help,"he said quietly.

Sarah ran a hand through her hair, frowning at a white feather that fell free. "Look, I appreciate your concern. I really do. I train hard in the martial arts, Officer. Most of the bruises you saw were sparring injuries."

Lies, all lies. But she could hardly tell him she got knocked into the wall by a six-foot owl.

"We really did just get a little carried away. We'll keep it down next time."

Peterson looked weary and she reached out her hand to touch his arm, surprising him.

"Really,"Sarah said." I know you hear this all the time, but nothing illegal happened here. Morally questionable in some circles,"she said wryly,"but not illegal."

He tilted his head, then smiled, a startling transition.

"You don't really expect me to believe that piece of crap story about the four of you, do you Ms. Williams?"he asked with dry humor

Sarah snorted,"Officer, my sex life is the least confusing part of my existence-and that's saying something."

He arched a brow curiously, then pulled a business card from his pocket and quickly wrote a number on the back.

"I'm choosing to believe you, Ms Williams. However, if you ever need help, or someone to call, that's the number for a 24-hr Help Line. Just in case."

Sarah shoved the card in her pocket and sighed. He didn't believe her. Not by a long shot. She had caught him checking the apartment for evidence of drug use and suspected he believed she and Jareth had been high as kites this morning. He didn't believe for a minute that Gavin and Dennis were also her lovers. Or if they were, he thought they were covering for something. Which, ironically, they were. However, she figured he'd let it go as long as no bodies turned up in the dumpster.

They walked back into the apartment and Sarah didn't like the way Jareth was curled into the corner of the sofa, the spider on his lap singing softly. Dennis was sitting next to him, making sure he wasn't jostled by Mike as he and Eric argued over the game. Dobbs was standing silently, watching Taylor watch everybody else. The worried look Dennis was giving Jareth decided her.

"Thank-you for your concern, guys. I'll see you at the station. Now leave,"she ordered. "Take some cookies."

Eric was well-trained. He jumped to his feet, grabbing a handful of cookies before Mike got them all. Mike just leaned back and smirked at her.

"Why Sarah,"he asked innocently,"do you have plans?"

His smirk always reduced her to childhood. Remembering every single instance he had teased her about her boring sex life, Sarah's inner sister crossed her arms and smiled sweetly."Why yes, now that you ask..."she said evenly. "I plan to have the men in my life reduce my body to one long screaming orgasm until I pass out again."She tilted her head as Dobbs choked on a cookie."Thank you for asking."

It took Mike a minute to realize she was serious.

He shot to his feet, eyes flicking back and forth between Gavin just behind her right shoulder and Dennis sitting on the sofa with Jareth.

"Err...I...are you joking?"he asked dubiously.

Eric eyed Sarah with interest."Again?"

She pointed at the door."Go. Now. Or I swear to god I'll swap shifts with Julian and cook on Sunday."

They ran for the door with gratifying speed. Peterson was shaking his head but surprising, he finally seemed to believe her. Taylor snuck one last look at the Dryad, then both officers left, closing the door quietly behind them.

Sarah whirled on Dennis."What's wrong with him?"

He got to his feet and chewed on his lower lip."I'm no Healer. Link-shock, maybe. Was he verbal at all after we left?"

Sarah shook her head, worried suddenly that she might have hurt him somehow.

Gavin touched her arm lightly,"Sarah...are you okay?"

Jareth's head jerked up and he snarled at Gavin only to break off and try to retreat further into the sofa. Dennis frowned at Gavin who shrugged and backed a step away from Sarah. He fixed her with a concerned look.

"I'm serious. Are you okay?"

She frowned at them, puzzled."Why wouldn't I be?"

"We can smell the blood, Sarah,"Dennis said quietly.

"Oh...that,"she said, relieved."It's nothing. I got a couple scratches. Nothing major. He got his claws tangled in my t-shirt."

Gavin relaxed, but Dennis was still looking nervous.

"What do I do for him?"Sarah asked, stepping around the sofa to stare down at Jareth's bent head. Gavin shrugged.

"Don't leave him alone. Get him to eat when he comes out of it. He won't remember what happened - that's normal."He smiled wryly."Sidhe don't react well when overwhelmed by their animal sides."

Dennis seemed to agree with all Gavin's instructions. Sarah felt herself relax as she realized that whatever was happening was normal for Jareth. Gavin held up his cell phone.

"I'll be with Donald if you need me."

She nodded and waved as he headed for the door. Dennis got slowly to his feet and she felt her eyebrows climb when he took her arm and pulled her away from the sofa. Given Jareth's hearing she didn't see the point. Dennis shifted his weight from one foot to another until she sighed impatiently.

"My wife was human, Sarah,"he said finally in a low hesitant tone.

Dennis did not talk about his short-lived marriage. The woman had died in childbirth twenty years into their life together. Dennis had never forgiven the Court for not responding to his calls for help. Nor, she suspected, had he forgiven himself. He was Earth even if he wasn't Healer trained and he still believed he should have known how to save her.

"We need to talk,"Dennis said solemnly.


	27. Chapter 27

"You did not know about the cross-link, did you?"Dennis asked after a moment.

No, she had not. That was something else she would be discussing with Jareth. Information like that definitely fell under the heading of need to know. She watched in surprise as Dennis threw an aural shield around them. Jareth could still see them, but he could not hear their conversation.

"I cannot say for certain, but I do not think this is link shock,"Dennis said with a hint of wariness she did not understand.

"What exactly is link shock?"Sarah asked, frustrated."Every one keeps talking about symptoms, but no one will tell me what it is."

Dennis grimaced."That is because we do not know - precisely. There are theories." He glanced toward Jareth and shrugged."I can tell you what most believe."

Sarah gestured for him to continue and he slipped into what she had come to recognize as his 'teaching mode'. It had gotten more pronounced as he got more comfortable with the classes and fell into the habit of organizing any explanations in a linear, logical way. He had quickly discovered the Earth mages lacked basic knowledge that he and many of the part-bloods took for granted, knowledge they absorbed through everyday contact with others like themselves.

"Were you aware that the Sidhe and humanity have a common ancestry?"Dennis asked.

It had not been explicitly stated, but she wasn't surprised.

Dennis grimaced. "It is further back on the family tree than you might expect. Humanity is descended from the second wave migration out of the African continent about 200,000 years ago. Only a very limited population survived the massive droughts, which is why your genetic code is so uniform, in spite of minor differences in phenotype. There has not yet been enough time for mutation and natural selection to significantly affect the genotype. The Sidhe on the other hand, descended from a race that developed after the first wave migration millions of years ago and which subsequently died out on the European continent before the second wave even began."

Sarah started, not expecting a history lesson that went that far back.

Dennis frowned,"Understand, these were not humans as you know them, but they were similar. Pair-bonding had been established in a primitive manner and obviously, there was enough common genetic heritage to enable us to cross-breed even today. One tribe of such unwittingly traversed the Barrier through a weak spot and the time differential between the two worlds means that while a million years passed Above, nearly three passed for the Underground."

Sarah started to ask what this had to do with anything, but a stern look form Dennis shut her mouth. Obviously, he thought this had relevance.

"Evolution does not necessarily mean better, Sarah. Natural selection is simply a process whereby those that are best suited for a particular environment tend to survive and procreate. The Underground had evolved a form of Wild Magic unknown in the world Above. Those that were sensitive to it survived. The sporadic infusion of human genes from other accidental crossings of the Barrier kept us genetically compatible, but understand that the Sidhe are a completely separate species, not simply humans with a different cast of feature or skin color. Aside from an inherited sensitivity to magic, there are specific physical differences in brain chemistry as a result of our emotional evolution."

"You keep identifying yourself as Sidhe,"Sarah observed."You are half human."

Dennis shrugged."In the things that make Sidhe most different from humanity, I am Sidhe." He frowned. "It is hard to say if our habit of sexual altruism is a natural progression of time or a different path that humanity may or may not take in the future. Sidhe refer to humanity as primitive, but it is simply a way to differentiate emotional bonding from sexually based pair bonding."

"So you have evolved away from your animal nature,"Sarah summarized, guessing where he was going with this.

Dennis smiled wryly,"I am certain most Sidhe would like to believe that is true. However, our animal natures have simply taken a different path. We can no more control the physical responses that natural selection has bred into us than you can control the shudder you feel every time Jareth pets your spider."

"She's a nice spider,"Sarah said grudgingly.

"For a spider,"Dennis added.

Sarah sighed.

Dennis shrugged,"It is instinct. You..."he pointed,"are physically driven to mate when you find a male your instincts accept as able to provide strong children and capable of seeing those children survive to reproduce. Instinct tells you that a sexually committed mate is essential to your survival. This in turn, fosters an emotional committment.This is what lies at the root of your sexual possessiveness because anything which might lure your mate's sexual desires in another direction threatens the emotional bond which is essential for your survival - or so your instincts tell you."

She did not know enough to argue with him. She suspected it was more involved than that. Although that might explain how friends who were not initially sexually attractive could become so as people came to know each other better. But that implied that humans could substitute the physical attributes of size and aggressiveness with the skills and abilities that humans needed to survive in the modern world. And if the instincts that recognized survival traits could be reprogrammed by the individual, then humans were a hell of a lot more complicated than Dennis had just suggested. Plus, nothing in what he said acknowledged the love that grew as people discovered emotional compatibility.

"So Sidhe do not feel sexual desire for their mates?"Sarah asked guardedly.

Dennis looked surprised,"Of course we do. We have not yet evolved beyond pair-bonding or the physical drive to procreate no matter how sexually altruistic we may be. If nothing else, our females would still be driven to mate. It is how they chose those mates that has been altered in us." Dennis frowned, then chose his next words carefully.

"Sidhe females possess the instinct to pass on their genes. In fact, as a result of our ties to the land, they probably possess this instinct to preserve their genetic heritage even more strongly than human females. As such, it is important to them for their children to survive. It is, however, a matter of supreme indifference to them whether the father of those children survives once the child is conceived."

"Wouldn't that preclude the possibility of a second child by a viable mate?"Sarah asked dryly.

Dennis tilted his head and regarded her thoughtfully."It would also include the possibility of having children by as many different genetic fathers as possible, which increases the likelihood of a viable mutation being spread across the gene pool as widely and as rapidly as possible."

Sarah smirked,"Wouldn't that increase the likelihood of spreading a genetic weakness as well?"

Dennis chuckled."We shall need to argue this another day. For the moment however, simply accept that Sidhe females are not biologically driven to feel loyalty - sexual or otherwise -toward the father of their children. However..."he held up a hand to halt her instinctive protest,"they are still driven to pair-bond, and their desire is sparked by the male most likely to protect their daughters. Regardless of whether or not he is the genetic father, her mate is the male who will guard them, train them, and assist in the selection of their mates. As such, she is emotionally drawn to males who possess the emotional predisposition to respond to her emotions and priorities and whose sexual aggression was not likely to create unwanted friction with the other males sharing the limited space we possessed during the Exodus. Males fighting each other over sexual access was something we did not have the resources or genetic wealth to tolerate in the years we fled Despair."

Sarah frowned with confusion."Doesn't that amount to the same thing. If she mates with him, isn't he more likely to be the father of her children."

Dennis smiled,"Yes. But if she is driven to reject the males who are sexually possessive, it is the quality of sexual altruism that is passed along in the genetic code. Understand, the process had been tending in that direction for millennia before the War of Destruction, but there were plenty who expressed the tendencies in minor ways or not at all. The War of Destruction however, let very few survive. The males with the strongest tendencies to cooperate with other males and to protect all the children of his mate, ensured that more of her children survived. Thus, females learned to chose only those males and passed that reflex on in their daughters."

"Okay,"Sarah said slowly."I can see that. But I don't know what it means."

"It means,"Dennis said seriously,"that however it came to pass, the final result was a Sidhe male who is genetically programmed to respond to female desire, both emotionally and physically. Emotional instability as a result of sexual competitiveness has been bred out of us. Whether a direct or indirect result, one major physical difference between human and Sidhe is that arousal in our males occurs only when stimulated by female arousal. Since arousal in both genders is voluntary and more or less controllable by the mature adult , the sexual games are legion, but our politics are unusually free from--distractions.

Sarah was still gaping at the revelation that arousal for Sidhe was voluntary.

Dennis looked at her intently," While Sidhe males do not respond to sexual threat, we do- and will - respond to a serious emotional threat. It takes time and commitment to establish a bond with a female. We face many obstacles and to achieve that acceptance is the driving biological force behind our every action. Threats to that bond are dealt with - decisively. And when threatened, we instinctively retreat to our fiercest and most dangerous pattern - our cross-link form. However, these forms are not Sidhe, and when the threat involves a mate, our shift forms respond with a response pattern that is alien to us."

Sarah sighed."So an emotional threat reduces you to wanting to beat the other guy to a pulp."

Dennis gazed at her steadily."I do not think you understand. The overwhelming need to mate in the face of sexual threat, to...possess or claim, is foreign to us. We are aroused by female arousal, not what we may feel toward other males or what they may feel toward us. To suddenly find ourselves swamped with alien motivations is unsettling at best. We have been biologically and culturally programmed to reject those responses. We cannot embrace them because we literally do not understand them. To go totally feral forces a conflict we cannot resolve. Since survival dictates the strongest reflexes be used, it is the Sidhe which shuts down. That, Sarah, is link shock."

She shook her head, confused. Dennis had said he didn't think Jareth was suffering from link shock.

"Then he didn't go feral?"she asked.

Dennis sighed unhappily."He shifted feral. He most definitely shifted feral. And that is not a good thing, Sarah. A jealous Sidhe is a sign of an unstable and precarious emotional relationship. I would not see you make the same mistakes with Jareth that my Bethany made with me. He is not human, Sarah. You cannot expect him to be."

There was a pain there she had not anticipated. She shifted uneasily. She did not want him ripping open old wounds for her sake - no matter how much she needed the information. She also did not want to hear that the one Sidhe-human relationship that had held out hope to her, had been doomed to failure.

"Bethany was the product of a culture that discouraged feminine sexual aggressiveness." Dennis smiled with a hard won humor."You can guess how that meshed with a male who was designed to respond to overt signs of feminine interest. It took me several years to understand that she was constantly uncertain of my commitment to her. She did not understand that lack of arousal was not the same as lack of desire."

Sarah froze, mind and body. Dennis caught the look of shock on her face and smiled bitterly.

"I also did not understand that my lack of concern over whether she ever bore me a child hurt her in ways I cannot begin to comprehend. She died of that misunderstanding, in the end. I would never have chosen to risk her life for a child that could not have altered my emotional commitment to her. Adoption would have been perfectly acceptable to me." He stopped for a moment, eyes on the past.

"She did not believe me,"he said quietly, grief and anger almost a hundred years old still fresh and real.

Sarah thought about the Consort ring Jareth wore on his finger."So he literally doesn't care if he ever has children of his own?"

Dennis shot her a shrewd look."No. His emotional commitment is to your children, whether they be genetically his or not. That commitment extends to any child you claim as your own, whether you are physically its mother or not. He will always respond to feminine approval and desire on a basic level. He cannot prevent it, although he can chose not to act on it. However, no Sidhe woman would ever desire him beyond potentially fathering one of her children. In fact, her own emotional reflexes would drive her to reject any male whose emotional commitment to you could be compromised."He hesitated, then shrugged."You must be prepared for the fact that if your relationship ever stabilizes, this will make him more desirable to other females, not less. But they do not seek an emotional bond and would never expect one in return."

Sarah took a deep breath."Okay...I can see that."She wasn't happy about it, but she could understand it. "At least, its something I can deal with." She crossed her fingers mentally and prayed she wasn't lying.

It had always been the emotional uncertainty that had bothered her anyway. But if what Dennis was saying was true, then she had misinterpreted Jareth's apparent lack of interest in her - badly. She had understood he wanted to develop the emotional side of their relationship,but she had thought it was because he had no real interest in a physical relationship with her. As for her emotional commitment, any more committed and she really would be. Committed that was.

She had had very good reasons for not telling him she loved him. Mainly, because she wasn't sure it was true and she had not wanted to hurt him by finding out later it had been a reaction to the dreams the land sent. Apparently, however, she had hurt him anyway. She wanted to resent his biological needs that prevented her from simply taking the time to enjoy him. To learn. Surely Sidhe didn't just wake up one day and decide they were in love. That was hardly a stable situation.

"How do you avoid mass slaughter then?"

Dennis eyed her uncertainly."We're careful. Those who could inadvertently pose a threat keep their distance."

"But how do you know?"Sarah demanded. "I didn't know. Was someone supposed to tell me?"

Dennis winced."Our scent changes."

Scent...?

"Oh hell,"Sarah said with disgust.

Dennis gave her a sympathetic smile."I spent a lot of years learning to interpret thrown dishes as a sign of love and concern."

Sarah snorted.

"If it's any consolation,"Dennis said,"Jareth is aware of the issue. He is also aware you are human."

"Oh hell!"she said again, this time for a completely different reason. "He's been waiting for me to act jealous?"

Dennis hunched his shoulders slightly as she cursed roundly in six different languages.

Then she glared at him. "You folks need to come with a manual."

"One for human females would also be greatly appreciated,"he said politely.

She snarled.

He smiled quickly, then sobered. "Sarah...as to what is wrong with Jareth. Do you begin to comprehend the shock he might experience if he thought you had rejected him completely--especially if that rejection occurred as a result of an injury done to you at his hand?"

She stared at him aghast."But I didn't." She flushed."Believe me...I didn't."

Dennis hesitated."You are human..."

"What does that have to do with anything?"she asked defensively.

"Just..."he twitched his shoulders uneasily,"...humans are often uncomfortable with certain...aspects of our biology. Bethany never..."he stopped abruptly. Then took a deep breath. "When placed in situations of emotional stress, we tend to shift to our cross-link form. It's primarily defensive--but other emotions can trigger the reflex."

"Like passion?"Sarah asked needlessly.

Dennis flinched."Occasionally. More than occasionally if the pair is bonded."

"I get it,"she said dryly."No worries."

"Did he frighten you at all? Hurt you?"Dennis asked seriously.

"Hell no,"Sarah said, affronted on Jareth's behalf."I was worried he'd damage his wings when he got tangled in that curtain, but other than that he was...playful."

"Playful?"Dennis asked doubtfully, his expression displaying patent disbelief.

"Yes,"she snapped, annoyed."Playful. Curious. A bit nippy with the teeth but amiable to correction."

"He was feral, Sarah,"Dennis reminded her.

"I did notice,"she relied dryly.

Dennis sighed."Forgive me. It's just that we have woken too many times to find ourselves betrayed by our baser natures. I suspect we have come to expect the worst."

Remembering her own shock at finding out her dragon half had decided to destroy her human half, Sarah could understand, but still...his reaction seemed a bit extreme. Her dragon had been reacting rationally given the situation. Her human half was in pain, remove the source of pain.

"Animals are pretty easy to understand, Dennis. He saw Gavin as a threat. Once Gavin was gone, no threat."

She had also remembered belatedly that nips to the shoulder were a form of courtship ritual among owls. So was getting in front of her. He hadn't been trying to cut her off - he'd been flirting. And when she had pushed him away, he had not reacted violently. Sulky and persistent, yes. Violent, no.

Which was a lot like Jareth under normal circumstances, come to think of it.

Dennis was giving her an odd look.

"What?"she asked nervously.

"Males have attacked their mates when feral, Sarah,"Dennis said slowly.

Her instinctive reaction was rejection of that thought. "That doesn't make any sense."

"It happens,"Dennis said grimly.

Sarah just shook her head,"No way. I mean...I know I'm no expert, but that doesn't make any sense, Dennis. Animals aren't into rape."

Dennis stilled, face and expression arrested.

"No,"he said slowly,"they are not, are they? But they are into self-defense. I wonder..." He frowned in concentration. "Sarah...what did you mean by pushy?"

She shrugged,"Courtship stuff. You know. A lot of nipping and screeching and wing waving. He kept trying to herd me to where he could move his wings. Truthfully, I didn't realize he wasn't reacting aggressively at first, but he wasn't trying to hurt me,"she said."A couple bruises from before he learned not to nip so hard,"she added in the spirit of honesty.

"But you were not afraid? Even when you thought he might be attacking?" Dennis persisted.

"Animals have rules, Dennis. Unless they see you as food, they'll back off if you stop threatening them,"Sarah pointed out."I was only scared when I thought he was about to put himself through the patio door. I was terrified he'd damage his wings. But he settled down as soon as I grabbed him."

Green eyes widened in horror."You GRABBED him?"

She swallowed,"Err...yes?"

"You grabbed him,"Dennis echoed again, weakly."A panicked male bigger than you with claws for fingers."

"He didn't want to hurt me, Dennis,"she said patiently."He just would have been trying to get away. I would have gotten my armor if he was too wild. There was no time, so I took a chance."

"What happened?"Dennis asked, with morbid curiosity.

"He knocked me flying,"she answered honestly. "No more so than I've gotten from people I've had to pull out of burning buildings. Luckily he froze when I bit him."

She saw the astonished look on Dennis's face.

"My dragon is bigger than he is,"she pointed out reasonably. "His owl knew that. Besides, it was faster than trying to throw a blanket over his head."

"You are insane,"Dennis mumbled.

Sarah planted her hands on her hips,"And you folks have some seriously warped ideas about your baser instincts."

Dennis hesitated, then nodded."It is...possible. Sarah, a Sidhe woman in a similar situation would have been frightened for her life. Even with a trusted mate, the fear would have existed. She would not understand a male who started acting as you have described. It is probable that a Sidhe, thinking herself attacked, would have attacked him in self defense."

"Or submitted to physical advances he would not ordinarily be capable of, to avoid the attack she thought would result if she said no?" Sarah asked shrewdly.

Dennis winced and nodded.

Sarah sighed,"Rape is about power, Dennis. I'd say your shift forms want to please their mates just as much as you do. They just go about asking permission a bit differently."

The Sidhe truly didn't understand their shift forms. That was becoming painfully clear. But she was also beginning to wonder if maybe they hadn't come to see their crosslink pattern as a form of mutated human. Violent, sexually possessive, and capable of the rape and battery of the mate he was supposed to protect. For a Sidhe male genetically programmed to respond to female desire...

She could see how they could be terrified to find that potential within themselves.

"Drop the shields,"she commanded.

"Sarah..."Dennis said carefully.

"He thinks he's just destroyed everything he is programmed to protect, doesn't he?" she demanded.

Dennis nodded hesitantly,"I think so, yes."

"Then drop the shields."


	28. Chapter 28

Dennis made her promise to call if she had any problems, but she didn't anticipate a threat to herself. She was more concerned about Jareth, especially when she recalled that injured owls had a habit of dying abruptly. She sat gingerly on the sofa beside him and gazed at him with worry and guilty regret. Apparently, neither of them had asked the right questions.

Her eyes went to the small table Eric had dragged over to act as a temporary coffee table. Jareth's Consort ring lay dead center. She picked it up carefully.

"I gave this to you,"she said firmly, reaching for his hand.

His listless disinterest unnerved her, especially when he seemed not to notice or care when she placed it back on his finger.

"You didn't hurt me, Jareth."

He didn't react, and she didn't know what to do next. Yelling would just convince him she was angry. Violent emotion, his or her own would likely cause him to panic and retreat. Cautiously stretching out on the sofa, she pried his arm away from his body and wormed her head into his lap. Then she stroked the back of his hand gently with her fingertips. Idly flexing his fingers, she examined them, curious for the first time about any differences.

They looked like hands to her.

"For the record,"she said, trying for a matter-of-fact tone, "your owl self is just as pushy as you are."

Ah...he was paying attention. She felt a slight tremor pass through his body.

"However, you did not hurt me."

His hand tensed and she glanced up to see him looking down at her. His expression was remote.

"I found you naked and bleeding on the floor, with your fear screaming from the walls. Tell me again that I did not hurt you."

It should have sounded disdainful. Instead, the flat tones sent a shiver through her body that he immediately misinterpreted. She tightened her grip on his hand before he could flee.

"The naked part was completely voluntary,"Sarah said rapidly.

She felt her face burn as he frowned slightly and stared down at her with a look of puzzled confusion.

"Your arm is bandaged." he said slowly, as if having difficulty forming the words.

She was going to have to be honest about this part."Yes, well... it got between your teeth and Gavin's throat. You backed off as soon as you realized you had bitten me by mistake and Dennis got Gavin out of here,"she said. "You helped me bandage my arm,"she added lightly.

He shifted his gaze back to the patio doors."I was feral,"he said distantly, as if that precluded any chance of her telling the truth.

She scowled,"Okay...so I bandaged my arm. You poked your claws in the first aid kit and tried to eat the antiseptic cream."

She thought for a moment she had him. A brief flash of surprise darted across his face, then faded. Still...

"Would it help if I told you what happened?"she asked softly.

There was a hesitation, then a short,"I know what happened."

"No,"Sarah said firmly,"I really don't think you do."

"You were unconscious. You are bruised and the marks on your body belong to my hands. I know what happened."

A look of utter self-loathing crossed his face.

Sarah nodded,"I see. You mean the sex so good I passed out. In that case, you won't have any problems repeating the performance."

That got a reaction. Not expecting a physical response, she was startled when he stood, yanked her to her feet, pulled open the zipper of her jacket and spread the collar wide. He touched the bruises on her shoulders with trembling fingers.

"And these, Sarah."He said angrily."How did you get these?"

She shrugged,"You nipped a bit too hard at first. I only had to tell you once."

He eyed her, a strange combination of hope and fear in his eyes."I was feral,"he said softly. "Nonverbal."

"Yep,"she said cheerfully."Completely. So are dogs. I didn't have any problem teaching Merlin to sit and roll over."

For one second, a ghost of offended arrogance claimed him and the Goblin King peered down at her with insulted pride. Then his shoulders sagged and his fingers moved to lightly smooth the scratches on her torso. She was very glad she had not had time to shift-heal. This way he could see how minor the wounds actually were. She had a feeling they would have been worse in his memory than they were in reality.

She had the advantage however; he wanted to be convinced.

"Your animal form is not a monster you know,"she said sharply.

He glanced at her face in surprise, then his eyes darkened."He held you down, Sarah."

His hands traced the fabric of her jeans covering the bruises his hands had left. She tried to remember if Jareth had ever bruised her accidentally, then realized with some astonishment that he had never had the chance. She found it hard to believe that he had never held a lover down before and driven her out of her mind. It was an unpleasant shock to consider that he had been so uncertain of her that he had not even felt confident enough to push things as mildly as that. Instead, the minute she had protested, even involuntarily, he had retreated.

"You held me down, Jareth,"she said, determined not to allow him to separate himself mentally from his cross-link form,"because I let you. I don't know what you think you turn into when you're feral, but from my point of view, you were curious and eager to please. Very, very eager to please. Not to mention extremely cooperative."

"And next time,Sarah?"Jareth demanded suddenly, his hands gripping her shoulders. "What of next time when you are not inclined to indulge me. What then?"

"I expect you'll sulk,"she said promptly. "You owls are a broody sort."

He looked startled.

"You were sexually aggressive, Jareth. Not violent. Not out of control. You attacked Gavin because he was a threat. You bruised me accidentally when you panicked after your wings got trapped. You got nippy when you calmed down and started feeling horny. In short, Jareth, you reacted just like a very intelligent owl. " She paused, then grinned. "An intelligent, sexy owl."

He ducked his head."Owls are also predators, Sarah."

She shrugged. "So am I."

He stilled, eyes widening with shock.

Her grin widened,"In fact..." she pushed him backwards until he dropped down on the sofa. "It occurs to me..."she planted her knees on either side of his hips and settled herself comfortably as he watched her with confusion. "I am a member of a highly aggressive, sexually motivated race of predators." She placed both hands on the back of the sofa and lowered her mouth to his ear.

"Feeling threatened yet?"

For the first time, she didn't feel hurt by the fact he was not visibly aroused. She nipped at his shoulder, then soothed the bite with her tongue.

"Feeling intimidated?"

He closed his eyes as she worked her way down his chest to suck gently on his nipple. Going on faith that he could still feel a general sensual pleasure even if he wasn't specifically aroused, she remembered what Dennis had said about lack of arousal not being the same as lack of desire and retraced the path Jareth had taken that morning. She kept her nails cut short but she figured he'd get the point. She curled her hands around his hips and let the edges of her nails press lightly against his skin.

"Want me to stop?"

It was an unfair question. If he could smell her arousal, it clearly wasn't enough to trigger his own. Or he was resisting. But his instincts had to know where she wanted him to go with this. It occurred to her that she must have confused the hell out of him with her attempts to please him. She should have been telling him what he did to her, rather than asking him what he wanted. She smiled against his stomach.

Now that she knew, this had possibilities.

He opened his eyes in time to catch her wicked smile and something about that feminine glee must have been familiar.

"Having fun?"he asked dryly.

"Yes,"she admitted with a grin.

A shudder worked its way along his body and she watched with fascination as the front of his jeans bulged slightly.

Jareth cocked an eyebrow,"I may not be a monster,"he observed."But I appear to have created one."

It was said with more hopefulness than full confidence, but it was an attempt. And it was more in keeping with the Jareth she remembered.

Sarah shrugged."Fair's fair. You have a completely unreasonable affect on my body. "

His breathing picked up.

She took a deep breath and smiled nervously."Guess it's only to be expected, considering the affect you have on my heart."

He went rigid beneath her. She ducked her head and waited for a reaction. A tremor rippled through his body and when she glanced up and met his eyes, she froze in shock. The wary gaze, the intense focus, even the uncertain longing was the same. She touched a trembling hand to his cheek and felt her heart slam hard and painfully against the inside of her chest. It was the same look.

The look from the Mirror Blade.

Her shock and burgeoning hope must have been reflected in her eyes because she heard his breath catch as she searched his face. Fingertips traced around her eyes, his hand shaking.

"Sarah?"he whispered painfully.

"Please tell me this is real this time,"she said harshly, terror and longing rising to choke her.

He cupped his hands around her face. "It's real,"he said fiercely.

Abandoning her efforts to seduce him, she threw her arms around his neck, clutching him as if she half feared he would disappear. He didn't seem to mind. He started to shake and she felt the world spin as he threw himself forward, carrying them both off the sofa. He landed on his knees just he shifted.

Golden eyes watched her warily and she caught her breath at the difference in him, the intelligence and the personality that was Jareth burning within. Pleasant as this morning had been, this was what had been missing. He looked startled when her eyes darkened and she felt him stir against her as his head tilted and she saw his nostrils flare. It seemed that owls were also fast learners.

Then his arms were hard around her body and he buried his face against her throat.

"It's real,"he promised.


	29. Chapter 29

"I think that spell was cursed,"Sarah commented.

In deference to his wings, they were sitting on the floor with her back to his chest. His knees were drawn up on either side of her and his wings partially wrapped around them, his tail feathers shoved awkwardly to one side. His arms were tight around her waist and she should have felt claustrophobic. Instead, it felt comfortable, sheltering in the same way a warm fire on a rainy day was sheltering.

It also felt very odd.

Jareth was one of the most dangerous men she had ever met, and yet, contradictorily, she had never felt threatened. Off-balance, certainly. Unsure of his priorities, definitely. The revelation that his gender was biologically and culturally programmed to such a high standard of care giving could have made him seem...less masculine?

It didn't.

Instead, she felt empowered. As if an unspoken threat had been removed, leaving her relationship with him something trustworthy and rock-solid beneath her feet. Something dependable. Rather than losing himself in her needs, Jareth's desire to please her was simply an extension of his essentially protective personality. Whether it was biology or culture or simply Jareth, he knew himself. He knew who and what he was with a confidence that was unshakable and undeniably sexy.

He was still the most dangerous man she had ever met.

"Do you know what the Mirror Blade is called, in the ancient tongue?"Jareth asked offhandedly.

She shook her head, the translation filter giving only a sense of knowledge combined with disaster.

"Among scholars it was called,'The Path of Catastrophe', for obvious reasons. However, in those days it was an easier spell to master." He shrugged."Jiann has always thought my human heritage responsible for my facility with twisting time. Perhaps this is also another skill we are losing to evolution. The point though, is that in Ancient days, it was not Kings alone for whom it was cast. Any who wished self-knowledge were encouraged to look within. But the price of truth is not always ease. Even then it had many common names. Fatal Flaw and Bitter Truth were but two."Jareth's voice was contemplative. "The most common in the days when couples would have the priests weave the spell on their betrothal day was Heart's Destruction."

"So..."Sarah said, finally understanding his startled look when she had described what he was to her."Not a comfortable spell."

"No,"Jareth said softly."Not a comfortable spell."

He had not shifted back. She had not wanted to ask if he felt more natural in this form. She suspected he still had trouble believing she was as unconcerned about his cross-link as she said she was and this was his way of testing her. If he was watching for signs of fear or disgust, he would be waiting a long time. As soon as she had a chance to shift-heal the chafing that had resulted from this morning's activities she was hatching an evil plan to see if she could arouse him to the point of shifting involuntarily. He didn't know about that plan yet.

She did not, however, expect him to protest.

"I frightened my father,"Jareth said abruptly.

She twisted her head around to find him staring past her shoulder, face empty of emotion.

Ah.

"I'm not your father," she said evenly.

"But you are still human, in your heart if no longer your flesh,"Jareth said softly.

Her eyes narrowed abruptly."That pisses you off, doesn't it?"

He didn't deny it.

"Lies and illusions, that was all he wanted. The one time he saw beneath the glamor to who she truly was, he ran from her. All her magic was not enough to hold him,"Jareth said, voice toneless.""I do not even have illusions to offer. I never have had."

"With all due respect to your mother, your father was an idiot," she stated, thinking dark thoughts about parents who messed up their kids, then refused to pay for therapy. "If all he wanted was illusion, then he was a fool. And it wasn't love."

"No,"Jareth said quietly,"it was not."

She started to reply hotly, then checked. He was trying to explain something. A memory of his wary look in the Mirror Blade flashed before her eyes. No, not wary. Frightened. She shook her head and resisted the urge to groan. Trying to think like Jareth gave her a headache. The man never said one thing when he could mean three. But not thinking like him had caused her to misinterpret him already, more than once. Hell, Jareth trying to think like her had tumbled them into grief too.

"What do you want, Sarah?"

She stared at him, confused. "Didn't we already settle this?"

He rested his cheek against her hair. " "I did not expect what you have done here,"he said quietly."You have created responsibilities for yourself. Awakened the land to that which it has ignored. Taken others to your service, in spirit if not in law. In the space of a single heartbeat, the Goblin Kingdom extends into the world Above for the first time in history, and a Queen of the Upper Kingdoms offers that which has not been offered in thousands of mortal years. The land where you build your sanctuary is now as much a part of the Goblin Kingdom as the Labyrinth. The Barrier is a barrier to Goblin blood no longer. You could stay here, if that is your wish."

She had already considered that possibility, had she not? It had appeal. But only because she had been uncertain she could have what she wanted in a way that would not destroy her. That wasn't a problem anymore.

Was it?

Jareth seemed oblivious to her confusion and distress. Or he was ignoring both.

"Your Swordmaster cannot help being drawn to you. He is Air in that regard. But truthfully there is too much Fire in him for either of you to find comfort or balance. He sees much of himself in you and finds clarity. Purpose. He will swear to you, given the chance. A good choice for Captain or..."

In peripheral vision she saw his thumb rub the ring on his finger.

"Or Consort?" she asked tonelessly.

She felt him go still.

"I would have no objection to him,"Jareth said quietly.

No? Well, Sarah had an objection. She objected to this whole line of questioning. Gavin was supposed to be a threat. Why was Jareth suddenly offering to share her with him? Sexual altruism be damned, the Jareth that had turned into a screeching barn owl this morning had seen Gavin as a threat. And if he was no longer a threat, why was he an issue?

She pulled away from him and turned around.

"Why are you doing this?"she demanded.

"I want to know what you want, Sarah,"Jareth said, his voice overly reasonable.

"I want you,"she burst out."Why is that so hard for you to believe?"

He tilted his head and regarded her for a long moment. Finally he nodded. "How long?"

"How long what?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

"It is the traditional question to ask at the start of such a relationship."Jareth said evenly."How long? A week? A month? Until there is a child? How long?"

She threw her hands up in the air."How the hell should I know? What if I said forever?"

Jareth rested his arms on his knees and shrugged with an avian twitch of the shoulders."Sidhe would say,'...until passion comes to a natural end'."

"Well humans say until death do us part,"she informed him tartly.

Jareth smiled without amusement."We shall live quite a bit longer than the average human, Sarah."

She started to roll her eyes at this statement, then frowned. She was missing something. Something big. And if he didn't stop reminding her she was human, he and her dragon were going to have words. Hell, once she learned how to shift, she'd be bigger than him. Her dragon could sit on him. Human, her ass. She'd show him...

...human.

She scrambled to her feet and glared."You racist son-of-a-bitch!"

Golden eyes blinked warily. She slammed her hands down on her hips.

"Just where the hell do you get off? I may not be Sidhe, but we fall in love just like you do,"she declared angrily.

"Do you?"Jareth asked coolly. "On what do you base this conclusion?"

And the Goblin King was back. At the moment, she didn't know why she had missed him. Arrogant son-of-a-bitch.

"On the fact I haven't murdered you yet, you mercurial bastard,"she snapped.

"Your language has become quite refined in the years since you were a child,"he observed blandly.

"Fuck you,"she said sweetly.

He rolled to his feet, form shifting even as she watched. When he gained his feet, mismatched eyes were studying her with a somewhat remote curiosity.

"I believe that was the substance of the relationship we were discussing,"he said pleasantly.

"Are you trying to piss me off?"she asked, somewhat bewildered.

"I am attempting to hold a reasoned adult conversation with you,"he said wearily. "Clearly, this is not the time."

"Oh no,"she said."You don't get away with that. I'm not the one who just threw someone's declaration of love back in her face because someone thinks I'm too shallow to mean it."

"I did not say you were shallow, Sarah"he said stiffly.

No...he just believed it.

"Did you believe me when I said I loved you?"she demanded. "Yes or no?"

A slightly bitter expression tinged with sadness crossed his face. "Yes,"he relied tonelessly.

"So...?"she snapped. "I know you Jareth. If you thought I didn't know my own mind, you'd have said you believe I believe it or some such crap like that. So if you believe me, then it must be because my love isn't good enough. Which is damn ironic, because you were plenty happy an hour ago. So what changed? What did you start thinking about that suddenly made you decide I'm no better than your father ?"

Jareth shook his head sharply,"I do not think you are like to my father."

"No,"Sarah said furiously,"you just think I'm human."

He stared down at her, then sighed."Your eyes are so cruel,"he murmured,"to hint at possibilities that can never be. Sarah, I do not blame you for being human. You know of my commitment. I merely wish to establish the parameters of your own."

"Parameters,"Sarah echoed. "What parameters?"

Jareth gripped her shoulders,"I need to know what you want, Sarah. That is all. If it is less than I had hoped it might become, it is still more than I had believed possible. It will be sufficient,"he said fiercely."I just need to know what you want."

"You,"she said hopelessly, certain now that this was not the right answer. "I just want you."

He shrugged."So be it."

She reached out and grabbed his arm."Jareth, I love you."

His eyes flickered, then he smiled slightly."As you say."

She tightened her grip. "I.Love.You."

His smile faded. Indecision flashed across his face, then he spoke gently.

"You held the book the Labyrinth sent you for barely three mortal years before ever you came to my Labyrinth. For almost a decade of Goblin time, I watched you grow from child to young woman. Learned that which moved you to anger or tears. Then came the ten mortal years when I waited for you to come for me. Thirty years, Sarah, Goblin time. Did you think I would not watch you? Study you? Learn of the woman you became? What did you learn of me, in the handful of moments we had in the Labyrinth? In the Court when all you wished of me was physical pleasure? When you can answer in truth that you know me, then we shall speak of love as Sidhe. Until then, can we not try for friendship? "

She stared, anger and guilt and confusion swirling together."You're wrong,"she said finally.

She didn't know how, but he was wrong.

Yes, she had initially feared her lust was artificially induced. That fear had died after several days surrounded by the unnaturally attractive men of the Sidhe Court. Yes, she had feared that her love had been given to a man who did not exist. That fear too had diminished as she realized that while she might not know the details of his life, the dreams had not lied about his basic personality. The only fear that had survived, had been the fear that what she wanted from him was something he could not give. That was the real reason she had said nothing of love. Not due to a lack of it, but the fear that she would not be able to meet the implied promises she made if she said the words.

He was wrong. He had to be.

But what if he right?

Was her love shallow by comparison? It was the best she had to give, but clearly he saw it as little more than lust. Did he see her as so primitive then? She swallowed sharply, fighting back tears.

Was she primitive by comparison?

Any love she felt now would not have the depth it would possess after forty or fifty years of a shared life together, but how could it? Didn't every love have to start somewhere? She didn't have to know which poetry he loved to understand that it moved him, or the passion it evoked in him. She wanted him, all of him. His arrogance, his body, his biting wit, and his determination to save his world from destruction. She loved him, not what he could give her. She didn't want bribes to stay; she wanted him to ask her not to go.

Did that make her so different from the Sidhe?

She expected him to desire her. She expected him to protect her children. She expected him to want to protect her from harm. They might be primitive human pair-bonding expectations, but how were they different?

"Maybe I don't know your favorite color or the title of your favorite book, but don't tell me I don't know you,"Sarah said finally. She had to swallow as the back of her throat threatened to close, and she blinked back tears, determined not to cry.

"Sarah..."Jareth trailed off helplessly.

"Don't say it,"she warned him.

He grabbed her hands an stared into her face, his own serious."I am not trying to hurt you, Sarah. But I cannot ignore the warning I saw in the Blade. I am the Goblin King. I cannot be less than certain. Do you understand that it is my fear I seek to appease? I do not blame you for being human Sarah, but you are not Sidhe."

Oh...that was so much better then.

Sarah glared at him. It wasn't her fault that Sidhe needed the certainty of scent because they lied to each so successfully with glamor it took them forty years to figure out their own feelings. What the hell --it wasn't like Jareth had any glamor anyway. And none of the Sidhe males who possessed it had ever turned her head for more than a moment because it was the emotional truth she had seen in the Mirror Blade that she had wanted.

She froze and turned that thought over carefully.

Jareth didn't have glamor, but he had been raised in a culture that did. Was that the answer? If their scent changed when they fell in love, then their only experience with uncertainty would be the courtship period itself when neither knew where it might lead. Sarah frowned, slapping a hand on the instinctive terror she felt at the possibility he might not believe her.

Think, Williams.

She wasn't a psychologist, but she had talked to enough of them to have a good knowledge of what drove her, biologically and emotionally. It might be a primitive understanding compared to the Sidhe who could spend a hundred years gazing at their navels, but maybe that was the key. Humans habitually leaped into the fire, trusting only that they could survive if they were wrong. Sidhe assumed they'd go feral if they were wrong, a possibility that scared them out of their collective feathers.

She eyed Jareth contemplatively.

"You folks have a real love-hate relationship with your cross-link forms, don't you?"

Jareth frowned, uncertainty and worry flickering in his eyes.

Sarah sighed and rubbed at her forehead. How did she begin to explain this to him. She wasn't even certain she was right. Maybe her emotions _were _primitive in comparison. But she refused to believe she didn't have the emotional capacity of the Sidhe. Or something like it. She just got there by a different route.

They did not understand sexual possessiveness. But they did understand biological imperatives. They didn't ignore biology - but they didn't understand their shift forms. She tapped her lips as it occurred her to wonder if they understood that human emotional commitment extended beyond the sexual possessiveness that was defined by human biological imperatives. She thought about that carefully.

Sidhe men were not sexually possessive.

The concept of patrimony was foreign to them. And probably seemed damned shallow to a Sidhe. Hell, it seemed shallow to her, when she thought about it. But human men were more than their biology. If they weren't, there wouldn't be adoptive fathers, mentors, Big Brothers, or all the numerous ways men found to be role models for the young men in their lives.

Did the Sidhe understand that?

Did Jareth actually believe that what she valued was nothing more than lust and the Consort ring on his finger? She narrowed her eyes as she recalled his desperate attempts to move their relationship out of the bedroom. Had he understood she was moving it into the bedroom, not restricting it there?

The land understood, she thought shrewdly.

And she, Sarah realized, had put her trust in the land and the Mirror Blade when that judgment appeared to match her own feelings. But she was human and accustomed to leaping into the fire on faith. Sidhe needed certainties. Humans learned to trust their instincts; Sidhe learned to fear those of their cross-link form. If what she suspected was true, then Jareth would never accept that she loved him unless she could tell him why.

Oh hell.

Humans had been trying to figure that one out for most of recorded history.

She started to pace as she eyed Jareth consideringly. He watched her unblinking and with apparent patience. Her human instincts kept rolling everything he was to her into a big bundle labeled Jareth. But Sidhe males attracted their mates by being responsive to feminine wants and needs. Sarah had shrugged it off as not that different from the way men bragged in bars to establish their ability to provide sexual satisfaction, defense, and a warm cave to raise the kids and sabretooth tiger kittens.

But the minute a woman slept with a man, he understood that he had succeeded in establishing initial bone fides and knew he had to move on to emotional sharing if he was interested in taking the next step. Jareth still seemed stuck on the bar stool. Unless...

Her scent didn't change. He didn't place any value on sexual intimacy as a precursor to a relationship. Was it possible that his instincts were still telling him that he hadn't convinced her of his worth as a mate. She thought about the fact he kept asking what she wanted. About the fact he kept offering her what he thought she wanted: Gavin, a Court, protection for the part-bloods. She had recognized his confidence without considering that confidence was based on certainty. Was it possible she was still confusing his Sidhe radar?

And, unlike a human, maybe he was unable to take a blind leap on faith.

"You get a tiny furrow right here,"she said slowly, touching her forehead,"when you worry about your goblins. And you are ruthless. You would sacrifice both of us if that's what it took to defeat Despair. You'd sacrifice my happiness and your happiness if it was necessary. You'd resent it, but you'd do it."

Jareth's face smoothed and went absolutely expressionless. He tensed and her dragon caught a whiff of something she belatedly recognized as fear scent. She didn't want to hurt him, but she was his perfect compliment and she had a ruthlessness of her own.

"You are a manipulative bastard when you want to be,"she stated unemotionally."Some of that is Sidhe, but a lot of it is you. Your first instinct is not to talk, it's to retrench and watch for a weakness. It's rather incredible actually, the way you can focus. You never once lost sight of what you wanted from me and here we are. So add determined to the list. But you know how to yield and if it will win you your goal you'll do it without regard for your own pride."

She tilted her head and watched his face for comprehension.

"'Love me, fear me, do as I say and I will be your slave.' Do you remember? I saw your face in the Mirror Blade, Jareth. You were terrified."She shrugged."Knowing what I know about your father, the thought you might fall in love with a human must have scared you silly. You could have phrased your question in other ways and still bound me to the Labyrinth. But it must have occurred to you I might say yes, so you asked a question that scared you feral - but you still asked it. You were jealous of Hoggle, but you still let him come to me. You wear a ring that means nothing to your people because it meant something to me."

She stopped pacing and stared at his white face. Did he understand yet?

"I may not care for poetry, but have you ever listened to yourself read it? The tears in your voice? The anger over the futility of war, your fear for the cost in bloodshed and pain. I may not understand what you were reading, but you did. And you could not have felt those emotions if they did not resonate with something in you. You lived for decades letting your people think you powerless, letting all those women who might have fallen for you-- and saved you from falling in love with a human-- think of you as powerless because you had the confidence in yourself to make the decision that you were the one who was needed on the Goblin throne and you did what you needed to do to stay there."

Had he never realized what his actions said about himself?

She didn't need forty years.

"You see yourself and your people with a biting humor that laughs at itself and can be cruel. But only a little and you have an outsider's viewpoint in many ways, don't you? You're practical too. Sidhe may not be sexually possessive, but Gavin has the potential to be an emotional threat doesn't he? He'll be spending more time with me that you will some days and he's not some mortal lover who'll conveniently die in sixty or seventy years."

She quirked a wry smile. "Didn't think I'd figure that first offer out, did you?"Her smile faded to a thoughtful look."Of course, you complained more than once about my practical streak, so maybe it's not so much that you are practical as wishing to show me that you can be practical if I want you to be. You, my love, are the hopeless romantic in this family."

A shiver went through his body and she gazed at him shrewdly.

"Are you getting the picture here?"She regarded him quietly and when he didn't move she shrugged and continued.

"The first thing you practiced doing with your water talent was how to build a fountain for the goblins. A cascading fantastical creation of rainbows and raindrops. Your clothes are more colorful than a peacock --not that they don't suit you mind --no doubt as a reaction to growing up in that Court without glamor And yet, in that same Court, you taught me how to dance and didn't give a damn how foolish we looked. You swallowed your pride when you accidentally hurt Jenner, you care about the feelings of a spider, and I'm fairly certain whoever hurt the Dryad was turned into itty bitty pieces while I slept."

Jareth's eyes flickered with surprise when she flashed a feral smile.

"And as terrified as you are about your own feral side, you take a very - dangerous - satisfaction in mine."

"Sarah..."Jareth said finally.

She ignored him."I have absolutely no doubts that you will protect my children, use them as required, and sacrifice them if necessary."

He flinched this time and something died in his eyes. She shook her head.

"But you'll love them,"she said softly. "You'd die for them if you could and whoever hurts one of them is going to have a long painful time to wish for death. You'd take in any of my part-bloods and if I called, I know that you'll come to me. Goblin King or no, if I asked, you'd ride to war at my side. You'll spend the last bit of your magic to keep me safe and you'd face your deepest fears for me. You have always faced those fears. Do you understand yet, Jareth? I know you. I don't need you to promise me things when you've already promised me yourself. I. Want. You. All of you. Everything you are. "

She stepped close enough to touch him.

"Goblin King."

She raised her hand to his cheek and watched as he frowned down at her.

"Child of Air."

She ran her fingers through his hair.

"Jareth."

He shuddered and when he blinked, golden eyes glared hotly.

"You forgot one,"he said hoarsely.

She tilted her head, smile faltering. He flashed his teeth and leaned in until his lips grazed her ear.

"Sexy barn owl,"he said smugly.

Sarah blinked at him, having expected something a lot more...dramatic. Then he smiled at her.

She threw back her head as her dragon laughed.


	30. Chapter 30

"My son is insufferably pleased with himself...and it is all your fault,"Jiann complained.

Jareth was currently dancing with one of the Queen's courtiers. Ministry of External Relations or some such.

"Don't worry,"Sarah said grimly."I'm going to murder him before midnight anyway."

Jiann eyed Sarah with concern, her amusement fleeing.

"Sarah,"she said carefully."You do know he has no intention of being unfaithful to you, do you not?"

"Huh?"Sarah dragged her attention off the dance floor and stared blankly at her mother-in-law. "What?"

"Jareth...he knows you are human. He will not abuse the trust you have placed in him."

Sarah snorted,"It's the fact I am human that is amusing him so much. Damn flirt."

It was Jiann's turn to blink.

"I do not understand,"she said cautiously.

At just that moment the music ended and Jareth bowed gracefully to his partner and glided back to Sarah's side with a look of amused anticipation in his eyes. The floor was crowded, but not crowded enough to justify how close he was standing to her. Sarah glared as his scent wrapped around her causing the muscles of her stomach to quiver. He smiled blandly.

"Would you care for a drink, my love?"he asked with mock solicitousness, flicking a lock of her hair and tugging on it lightly.

"I will get you for this,"she hissed.

He smirked, then sauntered off across the room toward the buffet table.

"Oh my,"Jiann said quietly, trapped between a laugh and sympathy.

"It's revenge, pure and simple."

Jareth had discovered - to his unholy delight - that he could frustrate her to the point of shifting feral (if she could shift, that was) without losing control himself. His cross-link was doomed the minute it scented her arousal, but Jareth's human shift form could maintain voluntary control. He just laughed when her dragon dragged him into the nearest closet, and he was taking extreme pleasure in driving her out of her mind.

"My son revisits adolescence,"Jiann commented dryly.

She caught sight of Sarah's startled look and smiled with wry amusement."Young Sidhe who are just learning control, test that control on each other."

Her smile faded slightly."In truth, such games hone their abilities with glamor and reading the subtleties of the body. I fear it was always less than a game to Jareth."Her smile reappeared,"To see him delight so with such carefree pleasure is very good indeed." Her eyes narrowed and her smile grew teeth."However, you must not let him grow too overconfident child."

"He has the upper hand with this one,"Sarah said glumly.

Jiann's smile widened."Does he?"

Sarah straightened, interest flaring."Doesn't he?"

"Hmmm...he is capable is he not?"

Sarah felt her face pinken.

Jiann arched delicate eyebrows,"So then, it is his control that is at issue."

Sarah narrowed her eyes and Jiann's eyes danced.

"He is male, child; scent is but the trigger."

Before Sarah could follow that intriguing line of inquiry a slight motion in the ebb and flow of the crowd caught her attention and she looked up to see Corrine making her way toward her. This was the third party they had been invited to over the last three weeks and she would have worried if Jareth had not informed her that the semi-formal balls were nothing more than a chance for the lords and ladies to gather and discuss events of interest.

Such as politics.

Although he had told her that he was not concerned about her performance, he had not protested when she asked Jiann to accompany them. Jareth's mother had been pleased to help explain some of the customs and intricacies of courtesy that Sarah would have missed, although Jiann had admitted that the Court Above was different enough from the Underground as to be its own culture.

Other than a polite greeting, the Queen had not singled Sarah out for conversation at either of the two previous parties. She had stopped to exchange a few sentences with Jareth and Sarah was uncertain what - if it meant anything - the Queen was saying with her distant courtesy.

"I understand the Goblin Embassy has been besieged,"Corrine commented with a wry twist of her lips.

Sarah snorted.

That was one way to put it.

The bucket Gavin had brought the night Jareth went feral turned out to be filled with the diamonds she had created. As it happened, she discovered that Fire Gems were not just gems created by Fire. They were a special class of gemstone: diamond, ruby, emerald, that had been altered fundamentally to act as a magical reservoir when worn by any image with sufficient power to control them. They were unearthly beautiful, interior facets shimmering with light and magic.

They could only be created by Fire.

They were also rare, a status symbol proclaiming the innate power of someone with the capability to wear them, and they were very very valuable among the Sidhe. Fire gems had become almost as rare as the elemental mages who had made them and Sedgewort had nearly passed out when he had seen the bucketful Gavin and Dennis had gathered. She had attempted to give him one as a thank-you for the training that had helped save her life, but in spite of the longing in his eyes, he had refused the gesture.

She would have tried to change his mind but Dennis had made a comment that hinted at political problems such a gift might earn the dwarf. She had bitten her lip, then reconsidered Sedgewort assessingly. When she had asked if he could accept one as payment for a special assignment for the Goblin Kingdom he had looked both uncertain and hopeful as she told him she wanted to hire him as a recruiter.

Donald and the Earth mages were hard at work designing the Goblin Embassy, but Sarah was under no illusions that twenty barely trained mages would be able to build the entire campus. She told Sedgewort that if he could find her a workforce of talented and trustworthy mages to build the facility, she would pay them in Fire Gems. She had also emphasized that if anybody had a problem with part-bloods, they need not apply.

Three days later, Master mages from around the world started arriving - and kept arriving.

Most of the Earth mages were Dwarves. Sedgewort had advised her that they had the most ability to shape stone and with the poison burnt out of the land, they were hard at work healing the damage she had done. Some were helping to train the Earth mages while Dennis and two Sidhe Masters of Air from Europe could usually be found discussing curriculum options for the part-bloods trickling into Tent City.

Sarah had been shocked when teenage part-bloods started arriving from across the country. She had assumed the prejudice against them had been restricted to New York. If anything, she discovered that Corrine was considered tolerant by Sidhe standards. A factor which explained why they had been willing to risk her displeasure if she discovered them before they could make it to the Goblin Embassy.

So far, they were able to accommodate everyone at Tent City, but Dennis had advised her that they needed to get a formal admission policy in place or they would be overrun. Master Cho, the elderly Earth mage with the cat had accepted an appointment to the Goblin Queen's Court as the representative of the human Earth Mage Council. Peter Han, their resident lawyer and husband to one of the Earth mages, had agreed to represent the non-magical family community and Gavin had accepted the position of Captain of the Guard. They and Dennis were hashing out a set of policies to be presented to the various groups for suggestions, then they would present them to her for ratification.

She had already told them to think university towns, but only Donald seemed to get the meaning. She had left him explaining it to them. In the meantime, Sedgewort and several Master stone-shapers were figuring out the best way to pull the tons of rubble and mud they would need from the bottom of the harbor.

Of particular interest as far as Sarah was concerned, was the fact that Corrine had just referred to Sarah's project as the Goblin Embassy again. She figured it was a good sign. She would have to double-check with Jiann, but she was certain that Corrine had just acknowledged that she knew what was happening with the part-bloods and was not planning to make an issue of them.

She glanced sideways and gave a cautious mental jab at the knowledge that Jareth had slept with this woman.

Other than a slight bruised feeling that was fading rapidly, she was happy to note she could smile at Corrine without grinding her teeth. She didn't know if it was Jareth's blatant smug satisfaction whenever he looked at Sarah or his cheerful teasing, but she really did believe him when he said that Corrine had been an attempt to engage Sarah's interest. It had a Sidhe logic even her dragon believed Given her dragon's earlier feral determination to kill the woman, Sarah had been relieved to find she didn't feel so much as a grumble.

She was startled to find Corrine wistfully eying the simple Fire Diamond necklace Dennis had suggested she wear. Sarah wondered why Corrine didn't just buy one of the gems if she wanted one so badly. She had the wealth, and from conversations among the Dwarves, she knew of at least three that had been contracted by two Queens and a King of three Upper Kingdoms here in the United States. For a moment she was tempted to offer Corrine the necklace. The gems would be no great loss. Despair had burned the pattern for creating Fire Gems into memory.

But if the Queen had yet to purchase one, there had to be a reason why and Sarah thought she should discuss this with Jareth before doing anything.

"Certain of my advisors are less than pleased with the changes they can foresee this Embassy will spark,"Corrine said in a thoughtful tone.

"Ignore them,"Sarah said dryly."I plan to."

Corrine turned her head and looked at her steadily."And what will you do if they chose not to to ignore you."

"Step on them,"Sarah said cheerfully. "Jareth says he would prefer if I did not get a reputation for being bloodthirsty so I figure that once I can shift I'll just botch a couple landings." She mimed pancaking into the ground.

"Splat."

Corrine stared at her incredulously for a moment, then courtiers turned in surprise as a delighted peel of laughter rang out. Corrine ignored them and smiled widely.

"I begin to understand your King's fascination with humans."

"Yes, well...he's biased."

"That, my dear, is blatantly obvious,"Corrine said dryly.

The Queen glanced at Jareth where he was flirting with a young half-blood who watched him with wide, adoring eyes. Sarah remembered seeing the girl earlier, lurking self-consciously near a wall. Half-blood or no, the girl possessed the delicate features of the Sidhe in full measure and Sarah saw several Sidhe males taking note of that fact as she giggled at something Jareth said.

"He would make a good father,"Corrine said carefully and Sarah did not need to see Jiann's startled expression to tell her something significant had just occurred.

The question, was what?

Dennis had said that Sidhe females would find Jareth more attractive as he became secure in his relationship with Sarah. He had also mentioned that Sarah should be prepared for those same women to approach Jareth. He had said nothing about it being custom for the women to approach Sarah herself. Her dragon mumbled something uncomplimentary, but surprisingly, did not try to bite Corrine's head off.

Sarah eyed Corrine nervously and wondered when the land mines exploded. Corrine was meeting her eyes steadily and Sarah got the definite impression her comment had not been casual. Monkey instincts were having hysterics, but her dragon was only peering at Corrine with one curious eye. So...political offer?

Why to Sarah?

She blinked uncertainly as it occurred to her that maybe Corrine was sounding her out, tactfully trying to find out if Sarah had any objections. Sarah eyed Corrine with surprise. She found herself forced to reevaluate the conclusions she had come to regarding Corrine and her courage-or lack thereof. It took courage to change opinions, especially to challenge culturally accepted standards of right and wrong. Corrine might have looked the other way regarding Belcraven, but Sarah reluctantly admitted that she didn't understand the delicate dance Corrine was forced to follow.

Jareth was unreasonable supportive of Sarah's trampling of Sidhe custom. Any advisors who tried to stab her in the back would quickly find themselves swimming in the Bog of Stench. Assuming he didn't just throw their headless bodies to the fireys. Corrine didn't have that sort of support. So...what did it say if she really was sounding out Sarah about the possibility of Jareth fathering one of her children?

She had an heir, but Jareth was half-blood. He was the Goblin King; king of the part-blood children the Upper Kingdoms had wished away. It was, Sarah thought with awe, a bloody big sock in the eye to Belcraven. It was also a dangerous move. If Corrine followed through, she was declaring herself as a natural ally of the Goblin Kingdom.

"Jareth will make a great father,"Sarah said slowly,"and if your sons are anything like you, I think I would be pleased to have Jareth introduce the Children of Air to my daughters. When the time comes."

Jiann's eyes widened to the size of silver dollars and Corrine looked shocked. Not displeased, but definitely shocked. On impulse, Sarah looked at the diamond necklace with matching bracelet that Corrine wore.

"Does that jewelery have sentimental value?"she asked.

Corrine frowned, confused by the apparently pointless change of topic.

"No."

"Good. Don't move."

Sarah wrapped her right hand gently around the bracelet and laid her left against the necklace. She felt Corrine tremble slightly and realized belatedly that the position placed Sarah's left hand dangerously near Corrine's carotid artery. Courtiers were staring, horrified, and several started forward in protest only to stop in confusion when Corrine just lifted her jaw and regarded Sarah boldly.

Sarah grinned and called up her elemental magic.

It was not hard, rearranging the internal structure of the diamonds. It didn't require extra mass, but she was forced to shield like crazy to keep them from becoming unstable as she loosened their atomic structure to make them malleable. It took energy, but Sarah was becoming better at judging the depths of her own matrix and she was in no danger. When she pulled her hands away, the diamonds glowed with the subtle brilliance of Fire Gems.

"There,"Sarah said with satisfaction."You faced the nasty dragon and survived."

Corrine looked startled, then glanced at her wrist and froze. When she looked back at Sarah, her eyes were inscrutable. Sarah grinned and shrugged. Corrine just sighed and smiled back reluctantly. Then she shook her head and laughed.

"You are going to wreak havoc, Sarah."

Sarah smiled a bit guiltily. But only a bit. "Blame Jareth."

"Oh, I plan to,"Corrine said with a wry twist to her lips. Then she laughed again and rejoined her dumbstruck courtiers. Sarah saw them glance back at her with frustrated confusion and she smiled blandly. Let them wonder. Meanwhile she watched with admiration as Corrine sailed into the center of the ballroom, the Fire Diamonds a small blaze of power.

"Do I dare ask what happened?"Jareth drawled from behind her.

Sarah turned to see Jiann still gaping at her.

"What?"

Jiann ignored her question and focused on Jareth."Corrine approached the Goblin Queen with a tentative offer to begin negotiations for a secondary blood alliance. Your Queen,"Jiann stressed the title,"replied with an open invitation to consider primary blood treaty."

Jareth, who had started the conversation looking nervous, was now regarding Sarah with the same inscrutable look Corrine had turned on her.

"The Fire Diamonds?" Jareth asked quietly, glancing at Jiann.

His mother looked thoughtful."That was deftly done. No promises were exchanged, but the point was made."

"Ahh,"Jareth said on a soft exhale."The question then, is what point did you intend to make, Sarah?"

Sarah shifted uneasily."Nothing nefarious. She wanted one but if she had chosen not to buy one I thought maybe she was worried about offending us. Or something. I figured a little flash couldn't hurt, especially if there were political reasons she couldn't buy one."

"Yes,"Jareth said patiently,"but why did you want to give her one."

Sarah shrugged self-consciously."Because she loved them and wanted one and ...I like her. It couldn't have been easy for her, asking me if it was okay to approach you."

Jareth's eyes widened slightly and glanced at his mother for confirmation. Jiann nodded.

Sarah frowned, trying to order her thoughts. She only hoped she hadn't gotten them into trouble.

"She gets points for trying to accommodate the fact I'm human--and she can't be all bad if she has the brains to admire you."

Jiann snorted. Jareth just continued to stare at Sarah with unnerving intensity.

"Hell, Jareth. You're a half-blood. She's going to catch flak over that alone even if nothing ever happens. You're the bloody Goblin King. It sounded like a pretty serious offer of assistance to me and she practically came right out and said she wasn't going to give me any grief about training the part-bloods. If I'm going to start a civil war over them, we're going to need allies. I blamed her for Belcraven, but it takes guts to do what she just did. Especially when I know she's got prejudices of her own. What's more...she knows she has prejudices and she's trying to change. That's a strong woman and I want her on our side."

"So you offered her one of your daughters?"Jareth asked evenly.

Uncertain how he was taking this, Sarah shook her head.

Jiann replied, a careful tone in her voice,"She limited the introduction to Children of Air and Heart-Kin. She also stipulated that you would make the introductions."

Before Sarah could ask if she had screwed up, Jareth's hand closed over her wrist and she felt a wrenching twist as he teleported both of them from the ballroom. She staggered slightly as they reappeared in the library and she watched uneasily as Jareth locked both sets of double doors.

"Jareth?"

When he turned to face her, his eyes were gold and she began to get the sinking feeling she might have made a serious mistake.

"Why Heart-Kin, Sarah?"

"What's Heart-Kin?"she asked unhappily.

He gestured impatiently,"Like to like. Of similar personality and values."

Oh.

She dug a toe into the carpet, uncertain how to say what she wanted to say.

"You said my daughters would probably be Children of Fire. If this thing with the part-bloods gets ugly, we're going to need a high-ranking ambassador at the Embassy to represent the Goblin throne. A dragon if we can. And she's going to need a Child of Air to back her like you back me. Corrine wants a blood tie to strengthen her ties to the Goblin Kingdom and frankly I want someone with her courage at my daughter's back."

"And me, Sarah? Why me?"

She looked at him as he circled her, "Why not you? You'd know better than I whether he could be trusted with our daughter."

He moved toward her abruptly and she was unprepared for the strength of his grip behind her head or the passion when he kissed her. She blinked uncertainly when she felt him shaking and she drew back slightly.

"Jareth?"

Hands cupped her face and he touched his forehead to her own.

"I believe you, Sarah."

The wonder in his eyes was underscored by a burning joy she didn't immediately understand. Then his meaning struck her and she wasn't sure if she should be insulted, relieved, or confused.

"I thought you believed me three weeks, ago."

He kissed her softly, tasting slightly of regret."I wanted to believe you three weeks ago."

She scowled,"What changed?"

He smiled, the joy in his eyes making it impossible for her to stay angry.

"My understanding of you, Sarah, and what it means to be human." His wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Do you not see? I was prepared for your jealousy. I would have accepted it, but I did not know you would chose to see honor instead of threat. I did not know you could."

She just stared at him dumbfounded and more confused than ever.

"You said it yourself, my love. Humans cooperate. Your generosity of spirit toward Hoggle and Ludo could simply have been an extension of that instinct. The human capacity for bravery is something I would never question. But generosity in the face of that which runs contrary to instinct, that my love, is something I did not understand a human could do."

"But we do it all the time,"Sarah said, bewildered.

"Do you?"Jareth frowned, then sighed."I have missed it, then. I have seen all manner of generosity and most is selfish, Sarah. A woman ignores infidelity to prevent strife. A man walks away from a fight he cannot win. Even those who offer their lives for others, often do so because to do otherwise would destroy their image of themselves. I do not say any of these things are wrong, Sarah. Simply that when broken down, they violate one reflex to preserve another."

"I still don't understand,"Sarah grumbled, feeling like she should argue but not finding anything leaping to mind.

Jareth smiled,"You chose to see the benefits of alliance. Impressive but as you say, cooperation is a natural human inclination. Generous, but not a violation of instinct. You were able to place your trust in my emotional commitment and saw past the potential threat to the sincere good will offered by a potential rival. Again, highly impressive my love but nothing I have not learned to expect from you. "

"You realize your compliments sound depressingly like insults, right?"

"They were not intended so,"Jareth said sincerely. "But do you understand how beautiful you are?"

Sarah frowned.

"The diamonds, my love. The Fire Gems,"Jareth said simply.

"You finally believe me because I gave a gift to your ex-girlfriend?"she asked incredulously. "Are you insane? I'd like to take the credit, but get real Jareth. I could make those things in my sleep. They are worthless."

"Not to Corrine,"Jareth said quietly."And that is a fact you knew when you gifted them to her."

Sarah shifted uncomfortably, glancing away from him still feeling like she was accepting compliments she had not earned.

"Sarah,"Jareth said seriously,"you did not see a threat. But even if your trust of me was strong enough to generate such a response, your generosity was prompted by no more than empathy. She loved the gems and it was within your power to give them to her. You did not gain anything other than her happiness. That is not reflex, Sarah, and I did not know humans were capable of such. And yet..."he searched her face,"you do not see your generosity as unusual."

"Even generosity is programmed on some level, Jareth."Sarah warned him.

Jareth smiled again, delighted."Yes...but to be generous without thought to one who instinct should call a threat, Sidhe would call such true altruism, Sarah. If you are capable of that, you are capable of anything."

"I think there's a flaw in your logic,"Sarah said finally,"but if it means you believe me, then who am I to complain?"

She felt odd about it, though. She could understand his need for certainties, but she was having a hard time not being insulted on behalf of the human race. And if he had not believed her capable of something so important to him, what did that say about his love for her? She was tired of creating problems where none existed, but did that mean he loved her for her strengths or in spite of her flaws?

Oh hell.

Did it even matter?


	31. Chapter 31

_A/N: Sorry for the delay, folks. I still don't have internet and now that I've started a new job posting may be restricted to week-ends when I can get an hour at the library.On the upside, I now have a spellcheck program on my old laptop (regular computer is down for now) so things should proceed a bit faster. Sorry for some of the errors in the earlier posts. I was trying to get this all posted before I got back to work and I sometimes click on the okay button too quickly when the grammar check kicks in._

_Thanks so much for the reviews. I read them all! I don't tend to reply as I get kicked off the computer too quickly, but'I'll try to answer actual questions as I have time. If I've missed you, I sincerely apologize. But I may just be getting to it-I'm REALLY slow at answering email._

_Cheers!_

* * *

Sarah's overhead block was weak and her opponent's blade smashed aside the spell-wrought blade, twisting at the last minute to slam painfully against her back. Jareth winced as she handed hard and Gavin followed up with a boot to the backside. She slithered around eel fast and lunged for his knees. Gavin yelped as he leapt to avoid her. 

The Goblin King grinned as his Champion got flattened again.

In spite of Sarah's initial concern that he was still jealous, Jareth really was just curious. Besides, he liked watching Sarah dance about in her dragon armor. He leaned back in the ridiculous chairs the humans had used to line the walls of the training arena, checking his distance from the wall first. He had learned caution after the stupid thing had sent him sprawling to the floor the first day. Sarah's startled amusement had been bad enough.

Gavin's was less acceptable.

Jareth sniffed and reluctantly released a lingering desire to curse the man's blade. Just a little. Assuming he survived the wrath his Champion would bring down on his head, the man was loyal. It would be foolish to alienate a man who could very well end up married to one of Sarah's daughters some day. At the very least, Jareth would likely be seeing the man at the breakfast table for most of the next several hundred years.

Jareth's mood shifted slightly and he found himself chewing on Sarah's unanticipated offer to Corrine.

In truth, he was still off-balance. That Corrine had actually offered a secondary alliance, and on such short acquaintance with his Queen was shocking in and of itself. It would seem that Sarah infected all with her mortal impatience. It was a radical change in political relationships and it was one that would have the Upper Kingdoms reeling. Corrine was far more daring than he had realized. It was true that he had spent little beyond the time mandated by courtesy in her Court, and that only because of his interest in Sarah. The fact that he had missed this streak in her was more irritating than worrisome, but still needed to be considered.

Corrine's tolerance for part-bloods had always been greater than most of Upper Kingdom monarchs, but it still fell far short of the attitude one would find in the most intolerant of Inner Kingdoms. He had noticed a shame in her eyes when she looked at Sarah and he had a feeling that the plight of the land and the fact it had felt obligated to involve a foreign Champion had been a rude awakening. He did not yet know if Sarah was aware how strongly Corrine had taken Sarah's disgust and fury to heart. Jareth suspected Corrine was fully aware of what Sarah's twice-bonded status implied and was taking his Champion's judgment seriously. Only time would tell if Corrine's new attitude had the strength to endure, but he rather thought it might.

The severing of the land to the Goblin Kingdom would have been unnerving enough and a clear warning to her Court that changes were in the offing. Her decision to use Sarah's human terminology was even more telling. Her own people were the least of those watching to see where this new alliance led. A part-blood child of the line-direct, even one not in line for the throne, would be an unequivocal signal that Corrine was committed to her reforms. It was also a sign that at least one Upper Kingdom Queen was thinking toward a future where Despair was in retreat.

In truth, it was a grimly warning thought.

Once the Inner Kingdoms got over their disbelief, they would turn their eye toward expansion. The severing of the Goblin Kingdom and the Desert of Despair placed it in a precarious position. The Kingdom now lacked the defenses Jareth had possessed as an oath-bound Prince of the Realm. He would see no outright challenge to his position while his grandfather was High King, but Jiann was not his grandfather's heir.

Duigan had ever resented the power the Labyrinth represented, although he had held no ambitions to the post of the Goblin King. Jareth rather thought his cousin would be unlikely to authorize a direct attack on Goblin lands, at least immediately. However, he would not be against providing a blind eye and financial assistance to those willing to risk their people by moving them into remote territory in an attempt to seize through a claim of possession and guardianship.

Jareth would have had no objections, except he did not trust his cousin's honor or judgment.

Connections to the Upper Kingdoms would not prevent such an action, but it would make Duigan and his allies cautious. Especially if Jareth established trade routes that were too valuable to threaten. Trained Water mages in full Triad were another advantage the Goblin Kingdom would be able to utilize in far greater numbers than any in the Inner Kingdoms yet suspected. In truth, full Triads were of more utility to the sort of reclamation the Goblin Kingdom would require than Inner Kingdom whimsy and weather control and Jareth did not think the Inner Kingdoms truly understood their value. Nor did the Lords and Ladies possess his Champion's survivalistic drive to react rapidly to threat in a physical manner. Mortal impatience, if Jareth tempered it carefully, would also be a blade in his hand.

Sarah's ability to create Fire Gems was ensuring a steady influx of highly skilled instructors from both Inner and Upper Kingdoms. Upper Kingdom part-bloods were eagerly exchanging contracts of service with the Goblin Kingdom in exchange for training. The numbers were small yet, but Jareth expected them to grow. Corrine was in a position to support those efforts and Jareth had been pleased - albeit shocked - that she had made a decision so quickly.

It was Sarah herself though, who disconcerted him.

He was coming to the conclusion that he knew far less about humans than he had thought he did. Such thoughts led to the natural thought that perhaps his understanding of his own feral nature was also flawed. Sarah had spoken a greater truth than she had realized when she accused the Sidhe of having a love-hate relationship with their shift forms. To his shame, he was beginning to see that the Sidhe had always tended to see humans as only slightly evolved beyond the feral.

He had never questioned his own biological imperatives. Perhaps it was the inflexibility of those imperatives that had led him to believe Sarah would be unable to move past her sexually possessive instincts. He was beginning to conclude, however, that culturally and biologically the Sidhe were actually less flexible than the humans they watched with such amused superiority. It was an intriguing conclusion and one he would enjoy researching, but for the moment, the practical result of that human flexibility was more than enough to distract him.

Sarah had been quite correct about Corrine's decision not to purchase Fire Gems. The Children of Fire had been known for gifting those gems to their allies. For Corrine to purchase one would have announced to all that she had either decided not to pursue such an allegiance - or that Sarah had not yet found her worthy of such. Sarah's generosity, while not binding on either had signaled that Sarah -- and by extension, the Goblin Court --valued Corrine and combined with Corrine's recent attitude and activities would suggest to many that a formal treaty was in the works. But no one had missed the danger inherent in Sarah's casual demonstration of power and the warning would be well taken. For a woman ignorant of the subtleties of her new world, Sarah spoke with remarkable clarity to Sidhe understanding.

That he knew the truth and spirit of the generosity behind the threat was a gift he would treasure.

Sidhe might be sexual altruists, but they were not always compassionate. Nor were they forgiving of their enemies. That Sarah was capable of being both without compromising her lethal potential was a hallmark of the Fire that was her element and he took joy in the discovery as she felt her way into her various roles. Watching her these past few weeks, he found more and more to admire about his Champion.

He had known she was intelligent, but her analysis of Corrine had a sophistication he found fascinating when one considered it almost certainly arose from a human instinct to form allegiances. Additionally, her recent tendency to shift unpredictably between human short-sightedness and an almost Sidhe ability to plan decades into the future was intriguing. Her obsession with fairness stood her in good stead as Champion - the more so because she seemed able to apply that standard to her own behavior. He had suspected such when she had said her words in the Labyrinth and left out the line accusing Jareth of stealing the child.

In truth, he was well pleased with his Champion.

No doubt she would make mistakes. Push when she should wait. Hesitate when she should strike. She was almost certain to make enemies with her insistence on forging ahead with human stubbornness instead of finesse, but he felt the benefits far outweighed the potential fires he would be required to douse. True, it was a fact that as she became more entrenched in her role she would require political skill she currently did not possess, but her age alone would protect her for decades. Her humanity, a few decades more. Bluntly, her lack of knowledge was currently an asset. She did not intimidate easily and he did not wish to cripple her by giving her too many things to worry about too soon. As he had told Corrine, if he had needed a politician, he would have married one.

Her instincts were good, her honor sound, and she was too dangerous to ignore.

Jareth was studying Sarah with some warmth and thinking pleasant thoughts about her likely reaction to his plans for the afternoon when he felt the pendant around his neck flare with magic. All four feet of his chair hit the floor and Jareth grabbed the pendant and traced the wish back to the source. The Labyrinth had dispatched the goblins in accordance to the Bindings placed upon it and they had already returned to the castle. Jareth was mildly impressed they had not required his aide, but the weakened Barrier between the two parts of the Goblin Kingdom appeared to have extended the influence of the Labyrinth as well. It had the child safely in custody and Jareth was left to deal with whoever had wished the child away.

Jareth was about to call out to Sarah when the Labyrinth shrieked and yanked him out of existence. Shock had him shifting to full owl and he screeched in startled challenge as the Labyrinth spit him out in an unfamiliar room. He winged high as a man's shocked face jerked around then disappeared as the unknown Sidhe dove for the floor. The scent of pain and blood assaulted Jareth's senses and he screeched again, this time a high ringing battle cry as he shifted to his cross-link, pulling his spell wrought Challenge blade as he landed.

Two men had joined the first on the floor and Jareth hissed threateningly when one started to raise his head. No fool, the man obligingly returned his attention to the floorboards. It was possible the man was a skilled cross-link fighter, but none of the matrices before Jareth carried a tenth of the power the Goblin King was deliberately radiating. If they Challenged, he would shred their patterns from existence.

The pendant was pulsing with magic and Jareth felt the bond between pendant and wisher snap tight. He turned his head to the right and glared into the shadows. The ragged bundle of clothes on the mattress in the corner resolved itself into the skinny limbs of a child and for one moment Jareth thought he had been sent to retrieve the wished away. Then the pendant tightened its grip and Jareth knew the child before him was the source of the wish that had called Jareth to this place.

When he had the time he would explore what manner of vengeance was required here, however that would need to remain for another day. The magic was unrelenting and inflexible. Jareth must offer this battered child a chance to redeem the error that had led him to send a sibling to the goblins. If it was, in fact, an error. Occasionally the Goblin Kingdom had been a refuge of last resort. Very occasionally. The dangers of the Goblin Kingdom were very real and Despair had added a further danger. Whispered tales and hissed threats to call the goblins guaranteed that most part-bloods had a fear of the Goblin King that rivaled that of the human bogeyman or monster under the bed.

"This one is mine,"Jareth said flatly as he scooped the child into his arms.

None of the men protested.

It would have been faster to take the child to Sarah's apartment, but again, the rules of magic were absolute. Jareth, however, could chose where in the Goblin Kingdom he confronted the child. In the throne room, the goblins were running hither and yon, about as agitated as Jareth had ever seen them. He saw why the minute he turned to look at the pit.

The girl was neither child, nor adult, and she was in full possession of her magic although her shift form pattern appeared to be at least ten years from maturity. She was also threatening to incinerate any goblin who came closer than six feet to her. That she was Earth and could not yet have the training or ability to incinerate anything did not bother his goblins in the least. They shrieked and panicked and Jareth was fully convinced it was going to take him a week to calm them down.

"Enough,"Jareth stated forcefully.

The girl spun around, hand upraised, only to freeze when she caught sight of the boy in his arms. Hatred flashed in her eyes and she lowered her hand to glare at him from half-feral eyes. Well used to the reaction - albeit normally from younger and thus less dangerous children -Jareth sank onto his throne, pointedly keeping the unconscious boy in his lap. Rage shimmered through the young woman's matrix and he was disturbed by the cold evaluation in her eyes.

Brutalized children were ruthless opponents, and brutalized children with magic were ten times so.

"Do I need to ask why your brother wished you away?"Jareth asked mildly.

The flash of guilt on her face honed the edge on his temper. He smiled ferally.

"Name your enemy, child."

Her shoulders straightened and she eyed him with speculation. Then she shrugged.

"Belcraven."

"Ah,"Jareth said, intrigued by the calculation that appeared in her eyes.

She was not broken, this one, but she would require careful handling. Her age was problematic. It was difficult to tell with part-bloods but he would place her at fifteen mortal years. To have survived so long, with such an edge to her matrix, suggested a crafty intelligence that might be too damaged to learn new habits. Her loyalty to her brother was to be expected and was encouraging, but would create its own problems as they were forced into new patterns of behavior.

"He planned to sell me. Chris snuck into the house but they caught him." The rage on her face mingled with pain as she stared at the bruised and bloody face of her brother. "He thought _she _would come for us,"the girl spat. The look of scorn on her face as she dismissively ran her eyes over Jareth's body was too personal to be accidental and left him in no doubt that she did not mean her mother.

Ah.

"She would have, child. Had she known,"Jareth replied careful to keep his tone bland.

This girl was not as enamored with his Champion as her brother. He sent a gentle tendril of magic into the boy's matrix and sat back with surprise. Child of Air, most definitely. Pure potential at the moment, but strong with it if he had responded to Sarah's magic at so young an age. Then again, young males could respond to other things besides magic. The girl's animosity hinted at a hero worship she resented strongly.

"How does your brother know my Champion?"

She glared at him, the rage shifting slightly to sullen anger.

"She helped him rescue me from Belcraven once before,"the girl finally said emotionlessly.

Jareth repressed the desire to sigh. Twice the tangle then. No doubt the child had seen herself as her brother's protector. To have both needed rescue and been replaced in her brother's eyes as the strong one would have been bitter indeed. To now need rescue again, and from the same enemy, her brother battered in her defense...

A tangle indeed.

"Did Belcraven harm you, child?" Jareth asked softly.

The girl's eyes widened at the fury in his voice, and she shook her head. So...the boy had found her in time. Although, at this point, the difference was negligible in terms of damage to her psyche. Jareth was more concerned with the potential damage to her matrix. Such injuries needed to be treated immediately and with extreme care.

The calculation was back in her eyes and Jareth did not bother to hide the rage in him.

Let the child understand that what Belcraven had planned for her was unacceptable to many. It would be an emotional response she would instinctively try to manipulate, but with luck, it might also become something she could trust. Again, her age was unfortunate. She was just learning the power of her own sexual nature, testing the men around her, and he did not wish to see her fall into the trap of garnering feminine power through the male instinct to protect the female. Not only would it force her to portray the victim, it might do nothing more than reinforce the bitter belief that males responded protectively only if the female was injured or helpless in some manner.

"Are you going to tell her we are here?"

Jareth blinked, surprised by the girl's question. The stress on the pronoun was more scornful than he might like, but it was also interesting. Very interesting. This was no awkward attempt to ward off anticipated male advances. In truth, she had not yet moved to the point where she actively saw Jareth as anything other than the Goblin King - which was also intriguing. Perhaps his Champion had a reluctant admirer after all.

A very reluctant, angry, admirer.

He eyed the girl thoughtfully. Sarah had hardly been inconspicuous these past weeks. Resentment and jealousy would have driven the child to search out her nemesis, if only to weigh her potential as a threat. Jareth was under no illusions how bitter a discovery it must have been to find herself so outclassed. The only area where the child could claim any advantage was her physical appearance, and it was unlikely the girl viewed that asset as anything other than a vulnerability and a curse.

Did he dare do what he was considering?

Sarah had little experience with children and none with the damaged variety. Sarah had a good heart, but this young woman was poised on a very narrow blade of opportunity. One slip in the wrong direction would see bloodshed of the most bitter kind. He had no doubt the child had perceived Sarah's failure to reappear in their lives as a rejection. Jareth was uncomfortably aware that he had made that mistake with the teen-age Sarah, and this child looked to be the same vulnerable age. Old enough to understand betrayal, yet child enough to dream of rescue.

Sarah had learned to rescue herself.

It was pure, blind luck she had not also learned that others could not be trusted to help.

Jareth could only thank her human instinct to reach out to others, and the generosity of her soul that let her see friends where others saw monsters. Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymous might have been intended as childhood frights and obstacles, but they had become much more. They had kept a young girl from learning that she could only depend on herself. Hoggle, in particular, had personified that particular dismal choice, though Jareth had not intended him to act as such. It was Sarah's warm heart that had provided the opportunity to learn a completely different lesson.

Friendship could save one, if one had the courage to offer it.

And accept it.

Regardless of the danger, there were several very strong reasons to consider what he was about to do. The girl had focused on Sarah as her model for strength and opposition. She was already comparing herself to his Champion's example and it was unlikely that she would accept another in Sarah's place unless Jareth could find some dramatic way to situate the replacement as equally dangerous. Sarah was also capable of appealing to both sides of the girl's nature - the human and the Sidhe. Sarah would not be handicapped by a Sidhe incomprehension of the human world, and this child knew even less of Sidhe culture than Sarah.

Not so obvious, was the object lesson for his Queen. Sarah needed to learn that a Champion was not a firefighter. Everything she did now, her triumphs and her failures, were greater than they had been before for the simple fact that the people around her would chose them to be so. The dragon had been unconcerned with gratitude, but casual generosity could earn one enemies from those logic would say should be friends.

He was not certain Sarah understood that fact yet.

The boy stirred, breaking that train of thought. Human eyes blinked and flew open when they saw Jareth. With an unexpected feral twist, the child was on the floor and regarding Jareth warily. Wary, but not terrified. Jareth leaned back into the curve of his throne and regarded the boy with unblinking interest. That the child had called on Jareth in a moment of desperation was not unprecedented, but the narrowed-eyed determination on that childish face suggested an agenda beyond mere escape.

"I claim the right to run the Labyrinth,"the boy said in a shaky but firm voice.

Jareth eyed the the excitement in the the boy's eyes with some concern. In his experience, people choosing to Challenge the Labyrinth for loved ones felt many emotions, but this was the first time he had ever seen anticipation. The boy's sister was looking at her brother with concern and another emotion that pinched her lips bloodless.

This was about Sarah, then.

Jareth raised an eyebrow."Do you,"he murmured.

It was not a question. If the child answered, the magic would not Bind him to the choice.

"And what will you do with your victory,child?"Jareth asked mildly.

The boy blinked uncertainly but the look the sister turned on Jareth was startled. He would be wise to keep that sly intelligence in mind at all times. The boy did not seem to have an answer and Jareth decided not to tax the child's ability to prevaricate. It would hardly be fair, given the bloody state the boy was in. However there was one fact the children did not seem to understand.

"I should perhaps advise you that should you win, I will indeed be obligated to return you to your world,"Jareth said evenly. "To the exact location where I found you."

Dismay filled the boy's eyes. The girl was standing frozen, her face a pale mask of hopelessness and terror. Then terror fled and resignation took its place.

"He will ask a Boon of the Goblin Throne,"the girl said emotionlessly.

The boy whirled, his eyes shocked. "But Mari, I don't want to ask _him_,"he protested in a harsh whisper.

Jareth thought it interesting that they knew enough to know that a successful Challenger against the Labyrinth could ask a Boon - if they were willing to relinquish their claim on the wished away. Yet neither seemed aware that the claim was on the Goblin Throne, not necessarily the Goblin King. When the boy abruptly turned suspicious eyes in Jareth's direction, a disturbingly adult look of assessment, Jareth realized that the boy had planned to win his sister and then approach Sarah.

Odd.

He cocked his head as the children whispered back and forth furiously. Then the boy took a step back and his voice rose shrilly.

"...but you'll _belong_ to him, Mari."

Ah...now he understood.

The smile on the girl's face was brittle but she managed a credible chuckle.

"You think she would let him hurt me?"she asked scornfully.

The boy hesitated, then shook his head loyally. The sister shrugged, although to experienced eyes, her disbelief in her own words was painfully clear.

"Well, then?"

Her courage was admirable and Jareth found himself hoping Sarah could salvage the personality.

The boy - Chris - turned toward Jareth and took a slow breath. He glanced once at his sister, then squared his shoulders.

"I chose the Labyrinth,"he said firmly.


	32. Chapter 32

"What the hell is this?"

Dennis stepped in through the patio doors and threw a perplexed look over his shoulder.

"I'm not sure,"he admitted.

Sarah blinked, then peered past him wondering what else had shown up in her garden. She relaxed when she saw the lichen.

"No...not that. That's fine. I want to know about the stuff in the jar."

Dennis continued to stare through the open doors dubiously.

"Sarah...it has eyes."

"Don't worry about it,"she said with some exasperation. "What's the sludge on the table?"

"Huh...oh, that,"he replied, redirecting his attention. He smirked."That's the secret ingredient behind Goblin Green Enterprises."

Sarah scowled."I'm going to kill Gavin,"she muttered.

The reversal of the first two words might keep DC Comics from suing them, but did he have to go and use 'goblin' in the name?

"He did it on purpose,"she stated.

The smirk on her advisor's face grew wider."Yep." Dennis picked up the jar and shook it thoughtfully."This is Pip's idea actually. In a round-about way. She was looking for ways to change stuff into gold..."

Sarah ignored the significant look and flopped onto the sofa. Jareth had not yet returned from wherever he had disappeared to during her training session several hours ago, so the spider was safely in the bedroom. She squinted at the sludge.

"It's a bacteria that makes gold,"Dennis said helpfully. He grinned as her eyes widened."Actually, technically it eats rock and excretes gold. Pip wanted to see if Earth magic could juice it up to make it work faster."

"Where the hell did she get it?"Sarah wanted to know.

Dennis shrugged,"Ordered it off the Internet, I think."He ignored Sarah's sputter."Donald decided it would be an excellent cover story for the reclamation company. He's even filing several patents based on it."

Sarah bolted upright."Oh no. No way. I draw the line at outright fraud."

Dennis rolled his eyes."Who said anything about fraud? Two of those Earth mages Sedgewort hired are R&D sorts. They went nuts when they realized what Pip had found. They're monkeying around with the bacteria right now trying to redesign it into something we can actually use to reclaim land."

He mimed a conveyor belt as Sarah stared in disbelief."Contaminated dirt goes in one end, gold and medium to light elements out the other. They think they can custom design the bacteria to absorb the toxics and the heavy metals. We may actually be able to find a way to sort the various contaminants individually."

"Are you serious?"Sarah demanded, awestruck.

Dennis tossed the jar. "Absolutely. We'll need the mages to hold the shields and accelerate the process. I suspect we'll need spells to sort which bacteria ate which contaminant, but we could actually resell the excrement at a profit. It'll be a slow process - three to four years for a large site, but we'll be able to charge such a low price compared to everyone else, Donald doesn't foresee any problems. Actually, I think he's looking into several contaminated waterfront properties across the country right now."

Sarah gave him a sharp look and Dennis shook his head.

"He knows they won't be protected, but I think he's looking toward providing the Goblin Embassy with a human source of income independent from your ability to create gold. He's right when he says it leaves us too vulnerable economically, and we'll need human wealth, Sarah. Not all our part-bloods will want to go work in the Goblin Kingdom and many of them will have human families to support."

"I should just go ahead and make Donald our Finance Minister,"Sarah said with a sigh, her head starting to ache as she contemplated how quickly everything was getting so bloody big.

Dennis cocked his head."That might not be a bad idea,"he said slowly. "The economies of the Upper Kingdoms are a strange hybrid. Sidhe can and do participate in the mortal world to varying degrees. A certain amount of economic power will go a long way to protecting our people when they are not within the borders of Corrine's Kingdom."

"Waterfront properties,"Sarah sighed. "Fine. What else?"

Dennis winced,"It might be...wise, to ask Jareth if he would be willing to make a tour of the Courts who claim the land we are interested in buying. There is nothing that prevents us from buying the land given your mortal status, but it would be--polite."

"And prevent misunderstandings in the long run?"Sarah asked shrewdly.

"Yes,"Dennis said with relief."Exactly. A token of some kind would be wise as well. Perhaps some Fire Gems? It is not exactly bribery you understand, but it is considered courteous. Especially since we will want their permission to let our part-bloods work on the projects."

Sarah opened her mouth to protest hotly that it was all one big country, then remembered at the last minute that Jareth had asked permission of sorts for her to stay in New York. She sighed. All this courtesy was going to kill her. And she really didn't know quite how Jareth was going to react to her request for the Grand Tour.

Probably ask her to go with him, she thought gloomily.

On the other hand, better to do it now before anyone had time to realize just how many part-bloods she was planning to train. Now that she thought about it, Jareth was going to be delighted to have a chance to show her off to the other Kingdoms. He had yet to say anything, but she had the feeling he was just waiting until she could shift. Or use the right fork at the dinner table.

One of the two, anyway.

Her firefighting days were almost over, she realized grimly. Truthfully, with all the new projects, she should have quit weeks ago. But there had always seemed to be a reason to put things off. The unresolved thing with Dobbs. Her gratitude to her Captain for letting her take off for over a year. The fact that she didn't want to give up her strongest connection with the real world just yet. Her world.

She still didn't know what to tell her family.

She ran a light finger over the arm of the sofa. She had not really said good-bye or given herself time to grieve for what would be lost. Somewhere along the line, she had thought she found the way to have it all. The Goblin Embassy had just made it seem even more plausible. She could stay here. She could continue to be a firefighter. Jareth could call her when he needed her to be the dragon. But it wasn't working out that way.

It wasn't just the parties at the Court, or Jareth, or the way Dobbs looked at her every once in a while. It was Pip and her discoveries. It was Donald and his waterfront properties. It was the bloody big campus the Earth Mages were getting ready to build. It was even those silly dragon statues across the street and the family of worms that had just moved into garden. All of these people looking at her to make decisions, take responsibility for their lives. Not just while the house was burning down, but forever.

Oddly, she rather thought she was getting used to the idea.

She thought about calling her parents, but wasn't really ready to face the one hour conversation that would result. She promised herself she would call tomorrow. Or the day after. As soon as she knew what she wanted to tell them. As soon as she had something concrete to tell them. Her father had been shocked by her decision to drop out of college halfway through her acting studies. Karen had been relieved she had abandoned her plans to be an actress, but both had been stunned when she hopped a plane to New York.

She didn't know what she had expected to find. She knew both Karen and her father thought it was about resolving things with her mother. Perhaps it had, but six months after arriving, she applied to the City of New York for training as a firefighter. No one was more stunned than Sarah when she was accepted. She had never been able to explain why she had applied in the first place. There had been no defining moments. No dramatic rescues. Not even a kitten up a tree.

It was her first real fire, a maze of corridors and office doors, when she had begun to understand what fight she might actually be fighting. But she could never explain that to her parents. Any of them. Her father couldn't wrap his head around how his wanna-be actress of a daughter ended up sleeping in her underwear in a co-ed dorm room. Karen alternated between terrified support and the horrified suspicion she might be to blame. Linda just thought it was a phase. It took Sarah three years to find her apartment and Linda still thought it was a phase the day Sarah moved out.

Toby thought she was cool.

Except for the last Christmas when she had been overseas, Sarah had alternated Christmas with Linda in New York and her parents in England. She wondered with some amusement what would happen if she invited everyone to spent the holidays in the Goblin Kingdom. The castle might look kind of neat all done up with pine boughs and candles. She could get Gavin to make some glowing crystals to float about the castle...

Sarah had a sudden image of Linda macing a goblin and her father trying to grill Jareth about his intentions.

It might be worth the chaos just to see the look on Jareth's face.

"What is that evil grin all about?"Dennis asked suspiciously.

"Just thinking about throwing a Christmas party,"Sarah replied blandly.

Dennis gave her an uncertain look, then clearly decided he probably didn't want to know. It was almost dinner and the rest of the Queen's Court would be showing up for the thrice a week meetings that had somehow been agreed upon. Sarah didn't actually remember agreeing, but what the hell... a Queen had to eat. So far, the working dinners seemed to be working.

Five hours later, the Queen's Council (pro-tem) had advised her that the Earth mages appeared to have perfected the sewage spells. The slight smell that had been plaguing Tent City was now history and the garden portion of the park was drawing huge crowds on the week-ends. The Community Council had approved several Asian-themed kiosks and by all accounts, were doing quite well. Local traffic to the Courtyard had also picked up during the week. The warmer weather combined with the higher temperatures fostered by the shield around the park had eliminated the need for heater spells but Dennis still wanted her to work on building up an inventory.

She contemplated the plans on the table and wondered if someone had read Harry Potter one too many times.

"Diagon Alley?"she asked sceptically.

Dennis snorted while Gavin just looked confused.

"It's not a bad concept,"Donald pointed out."The part-bloods are used to the idea of shopping malls and from what Dennis had been saying, it'll be years before most of them will be able to do many of the basic spells the Sidhe take for granted."

"Especially complimentary and near-compliment spells,"Dennis agreed.

"These spells can be designed to be activated by humans? Like the heaters?"Peter Han asked with interest.

Dennis tilted his head thoughtfully."Some, yes. Anything that doesn't require extensive weaving or real time correction. We're limited to mostly basic spells though. Things that won't be too harmful if they blow up. A mage might feel the spell failing in time to shield or duck, but a human would not."

Peter acknowledged the warning, but the look in his eyes was still intrigued.

"Basic spells, apprentice stonework, and jewelery. Herbs still form the basis of many remedies used by the Healers, so we could looking at stocking those as well from the greenhouses. Imports from the Goblin Kingdom and trading partners,"Dennis said, counting off on his fingers.

"Weapons,"Gavin added.

"Cooking equipment that's certified iron-free,"Peter chimed in.

Given that his wife had an iron allergy almost as bad as Jareth's, Sarah wasn't going to argue that one. Plus, Earth mages would also need trace elements when working with various plants. Nothing they couldn't buy at a specialty garden center, but Sarah could see how it could be convenient to be able to buy it from other magic users. She had also seen Gavin eying Jareth's clothing with less than surreptitious envy. She would bet a week's paycheck a good goblin tailor could be kept in needles and bobbins.

"Okay,"she said."You've convinced me."

The Council had agreed that the Embassy grounds should be open to humans by invitation only - and those invitations extended only to family members and other people with reason to know about the magical folk who shared their world. They had pointed out however, that they couldn't cut themselves off totally and a section of the campus on the outskirts of the grounds was being designed as the International Cultural Center Donald had originally proposed when he arranged the financing. The ICC would be outside the more rigid shields that would protect the inner campus and marketplace and would be totally open to the public.

It would be a good front for all the comings and goings, plus would give the humans in the community a place to market their services and products to the world at large. Donald had included plans for a world class gallery as well as various shops and space for offices--including those for Goblin Green Enterprises. The large theater would eventually replace the one they were using in the warehouse and Dennis had assured her that as long as they never made the stage itself available to non-community humans, they would have no problem disguising the additions they needed for spell-enhanced productions.

"Oh, Sarah..." Dennis said, peering at his notes,"Master Curreil wants half a ton of silver for the basic metalworking class."

Sarah frowned,"I thought that wasn't until next year."

Dennis grinned,"I think Master Curreil has visions of you ending up in the Goblin Kingdom and leaving him to work with mud and pennies."

She snorted."Fine. I've got a session with Sedgewort first day of my off-shift. I'll tell him we're doing silver."

Gavin frowned,"Weren't we going to see what what you could do with a few tons of garbage that night?"

Sarah leafed through the day planner Donald had bought for her after she slept through two meetings with him.

"No - that's the night after."Sarah held up her planner in self-defense.

Peter glanced up from his own planner. "Did you remember to add the picnic?"

Sarah flipped through the planner and scowled."Crap."She looked over at Gavin as she hastily added the Tent City Family Day Picnic to her planner. It wasn't like she actually forgot about the picnic. She just forgot to write it down.

"Any luck finding those fireworks spells?"

Gavin grimaced,"Yes. I found several. But the more I look at them, the more I think you'll need a Child of Air to pair with you to actually build them."

"Right,"Sarah said,making a note to herself."Talk to Jareth."

A knock at the door distracted her and she left Gavin pulling copies of spell directions from his pocket. Earth Masters skewed to Fire were the traditional makers of Sidhe fireworks since the War of Destruction. Unfortunately, none of their Earth mages - imported or otherwise- knew the spells. Corrine was skewed to Water and freely admitted that very few Kingdoms actually put on traditional light displays anymore. But some of the kids had asked one of the visiting Dwarves about Sidhe fireworks and the poor man, not realizing what he was about to start, regaled them with stories of the fabulous displays he had seen in his youth.

So now they needed fireworks.

She'd have gone with traditional human explosions, unfortunately, everyone-adults included-had gotten their hearts set on a true blue Goblin Kingdom party and Sarah had not had the heart to disappoint them. Jareth had just snickered when she found herself weakly agreeing to try to find the spells. Had she actually asked Jareth if he knew the spells? Sarah scowled as she reached the door. If she found out he had let her send Gavin digging through Corrine's library for nothing, he was going to be one sorry Goblin King.

Jenner was very loyal.

She was looking back at Dennis frowning over the spells in his hand as she pulled the door open. Expecting one of the kids, it took her a minute to identify the three people in the hall.

"Hello, Sarah,"her father said nervously."Can we come in?"


	33. Chapter 33

There was something very odd about the sister.

Even given her human blood, her self-shielding was very skilled for one of her age and training. He saw no evidence that she was advanced in any other area of her training and there was an odd feel to her matrix. Jareth wanted to probe a bit more closely, but feared the child would sense his intrusion and react adversely.

Her brother was far easier to read. The latent power of his matrix was painfully clear. The thought of such ability crippled and untrained for no better reason than human heritage set Jareth's teeth on edge and he nearly interceded with the Labyrinth to send the child in the wrong direction. He had no desire to see the child misspeak his desire and force Jareth to return him to Belcraven's hands. Of course, once the Labyrinth was run...

Jareth was free to Challenge where he would.

Still, the child clearly had a plan and it was in Jareth's mind that these children had seen too much power taken from their hands. It would be better to allow the child some sense of control over his destiny. If he was correct, Jareth felt rather pleased with himself. Sarah would get her part-blood Child of Air and Jareth could claim the sister. He tapped his lips and regarded her narrowly. She had left off threatening the goblins after Jareth commented that she would find it difficult to obtain something to eat if she scared away the servants.

Nor had she reacted well to seeing her brother in the Labyrinth.

The first time the boy ran into trouble, Jareth had been forced to restrain her. The goblin guard had been a bit more daunting than the castle servants and her clothing had taken a fair amount of damage before Jareth slapped a binding around her and tossed her back in the pit. She had glared when he offered a change of clothes so he had shrugged and gone back to studying the boy. The child was quick of wit, no doubt.

A bit impetuous, but only to be expected of a Child of Air.

The girl was clearly developing a shift form pattern. Jareth did not recognize the form, but it was early yet. Again, that feeling of the familiar taunted him, but memory did not resolve itself into knowledge. She did not seem to be following the pattern of early maturation some half-bloods took. In fact, he had a feeling her brother's matrix would be mature at least a decade before her own. For his pattern to be so clear at barely ten mortal years, he was maturing at a rate Jareth was more familiar with seeing.

He had told Sarah truthfully when he had said that part-bloods in the Inner Kingdoms were judged adult at the age of reason. However, it was not unusual for half-bloods to mature at the faster human rate. With luck, the boy would be ready to partner the Earth-Water pairing when they arrived for their apprenticeship. If necessary, the child could stay in the Goblin Kingdom until he caught up to the biological age of his future counterparts.

Jareth swiveled on his throne, slinging his legs over the arm and staring broodingly at the clock. It was well that Chris was likely to be Sidhe in more ways than his magic. Corey, at eighteen, was closer to maturity than either of his Triad partners, but given the mortal nature of their Child of Earth, Jareth rather thought he would ask Sarah to leave Chris in the Goblin Kingdom for a few years before inviting to Corey to stay as well. Water and Air could pair quite comfortably and with luck and the time differential, both young men would be past the age of reason before Pip matured.

He glanced at the clock again and sat up.

The Labyrinth had done its work well. The child had surmounted all the obstacles placed in front of him. With some, Jareth might have been inclined to teach that simply not giving up could prevent defeat but he had judged that this child needed the tangible victory of success. Thus, he was pleased when ten minutes to the thirteenth hour he heard running footsteps outside the throne room.

Chris staggered into the room, clothes a bit ragged and skin a bit worse for the thorns. Mari lurched to her knees, yelling at him to tell her if he was okay. Chris, grinning widely when he saw the clock, turned triumphantly to his sister. Jareth had one moment to see the boy's expression flash from confusion to rage then he was fending off a spitting maelstrom of whirling fists and kicking feet.

Annoyed, Jareth hoisted the boy into the air by his shirt only to hiss in pain as the child snaked his head around in a move that should have defied physics. Feral little teeth fastened into his arm and the child would not be shook loose. Cursing, Jareth slammed across the Barrier and materialized in Sarah's living room. Snarling, he stalked toward her and shoved out his arm.

"It's a present,"he said through gritted teeth."Be so kind as to detach it."

Although confused, she nevertheless pried the child's teeth loose from his arm and Jareth glared at the blood streaming from the wounds. Ungrateful brat.

"Bastard! Pervert!"the boy screamed as he lunged for Jareth again.

Sarah raised one eyebrow but kept a good lock on the child's arm. Nor did the boy seem inclined to take a swing at her. Indeed, he seemed singularly focused on rending Jareth from existence.

"What exactly is it you think I have done?"Jareth demanded.

"I saw her clothes,"the boy accused, tears of fury and betrayal welling up in his eyes.

Jareth blinked, then snorted. "I am Sidhe, child. Even were I so inclined, precisely how was I to accomplish such a deed?"

Disconcerted by Jareth's response, Chris stopped squirming and settled for glaring.

"Belcraven is Sidhe,"the child spat.

"Regrettably, I believe you to be correct,"Jareth said with a sniff." However, even Belcraven and his ilk would be required to drug your sister with aphrodisiacs to the point where she would be quite incoherent. I noticed no such impairment of her vocal cords."

The boy wanted to be convinced, but clearly remained doubtful.

"Come come, child,"Jareth said exasperated."Are you ignorant of your own biology?"

The boy looked back at Sarah uncertainly. His Champion shrugged gamely, although the look on her face suggested Jareth would be explaining certain accusations in detail.

"He's telling the truth,"Sarah said.

Clearly the word of the Queen carried more weight than that of the Goblin King. Jareth watched as the child slumped with relief. He was curious when it would occur to the boy that he was now in the presence of his idol and had perhaps given an impression that left a bit to be desired.

"Sarah?" a man's voice asked, sounding shocked.

Jareth spun to see himself being regarded with stunned expressions. Sarah's face displayed such a wondrous mix of horror and guilt he was tempted to disappear with the boy and watch the ensuing chaos through a crystal. Unfortunately, he had become rather accustomed to living. He regarded Richard Williams with disfavor. Could the man not use the telephone like every other blasted human on this planet?

Chris had discovered Toby and both boys were studying each other with wary interest. Karen had collapsed onto the sofa and was staring with fascinated disbelief. Jareth saw her gaze touch on his hair and move downward. Jareth doubted she was admiring his body. Sarah was giving him an almost identical examination. He scowled and planted his fists on his hips.

Karen turned the most interesting shade of red he had seen in many years when her gaze strayed below his waist. Sarah winced almost apologetically at her stepmother and glared at Jareth. He stared back, uncertain as to his crime. Was it his fault that humans were sexually obsessed?

Fine.

He stalked into Sarah's bedroom and changed into the outfit he had worn the first day he arrived Above. For some reason, Sarah seemed fond of it and he decided it might behoove him to appease her. Especially since he still had a half-blood teenager tied up in his throne room. He even bowed to the repressed nature of her parents and left his hair an ordinary human blond.

An effort that was wasted, he soon discovered.

Sarah was collapsed onto the sofa, her head in her hands. Karen was staring wide-eyed at the bedroom door, and young Toby was watching Jareth with shock and brotherly suspicion. Jareth's first intimation of disaster was the red-faced indignation on Richard William's face as he turned to stare at his daughter.

"Sarah Jane Williams!"he roared."You will explain why this...this..."

Words failed him as he flung his hand in Jareth's direction and the Goblin King began to wonder if Sarah's dramatic nature as a teenager had not been honestly inherited from both biological parents.

"Is he why you haven't been to see your mother?"Richard demanded.

For a man who had always struck Jareth as the sort who disliked confrontation, he was certainly well into his role as offended pater familias. How odd. Jareth found himself reluctantly fascinated and he waited with interest to see what the man would do next.

"Richard,"Karen said soothingly."I'm sure there's a...good explanation." Her voice trailed off weakly as she looked at her stepdaughter. "We were worried about you, Sarah,"Karen said."Linda called and said that you had not been to see her since you got back. She was worried you were upset about Bob."

From the confused look in his Champion's eyes, she didn't have an inkling as to who this male was and why she should be upset about him.

Richard stepped up behind his wife and placed a hand on her shoulder."We understand that a new stepfather is upsetting, even at your age. But we have to accept that change happens. Especially with the new baby. Your mother was hoping you would be happy for her."

"Baby?"Sarah asked, stunned."Linda is pregnant?" Then she blinked. "She's getting married?"

Karen gave her husband an uncertain look."Sarah...is everything okay?"

The glance she aimed at Jareth was doubtful. Jareth narrowed his eyes and he waited for his Champion to claim him. As she blinked owlishly at her stepmother, he decided she was probably correct not to spring the full extent of their relationship on her unsuspecting family. He decided claiming an engagement might be more politic. When Sarah said nothing, he wondered if it was more human to describe him as her lover.

Adoring King.

Forever Friend.

Devoted Slave.

He crossed his arms, more than a little out of charity with his beloved when Sarah remained silent.

She could at least tell the blasted woman his name!

"I'd like you to meet Jareth,"Sarah said finally. "The Goblin King."


	34. Chapter 34

There was a stunned silence.

"And my husband,"Sarah added, the word sounding...strange.

Karen launched herself off the sofa, nearly impaling herself on the Dryad's branches.

Her stepmother shrieked in horror."You married an actor!"

Sarah stared blankly, then realized Karen must have remembered her fascination with the Labyrinth. Odd. Sarah hadn't thought her stepmother paid that much attention all those years ago. She felt vaguely guilty, but decided she would apologize later. At the moment, she was more worried her father was going to have a stroke.

Jareth was watching her with a strange look on his face. It occurred belatedly that she should probably have discussed this with him first.

"No,"she said to Karen, committed now to the truth."I married the Goblin King."

She watched as her father and Karen exchanged glances, then her father sank carefully onto the sofa beside her. He took her hand gently and patted it nervously.

"Sarah...you must understand how this looks. You don't get involved with any of the boys at school and according to Linda you never really dated here in New York. Then you get hurt and all of sudden you take off for over a year. When you came back we got a couple short phone calls that said nothing about...about Jareth. Now you tell us you are married. Do you see why we are concerned?"

Sarah chuckled, surprising him."Dad, if I hadn't lived my life, I'd think I was nuts too."

"Dad..."Toby said tentatively.

"In a minute, Toby,"her father said.

"But Dad..."Toby said in a small voice.

Richard sighed, then paused when Karen's voice joined her son's, quivering with uncertainty.

"Richard..."

Her father turned to find his wife and son staring at the Dryad. Sarah sat back and waited. The illusion was keyed to people who did not know of her identity as the Goblin Queen. Whether they believed her or not was a moot point. They had been told who Jareth was and they knew she was married to him and the spell reacted accordingly. She heard a gasp and glanced over to see Karen staring with fixed interest at the dining room walls. Her horrified gaze dropped to the floor and her feet were quickly yanked onto the sofa. One second later, Toby was pulled up beside her.

"It's okay,"Sarah said calmly."Nothing here will hurt you."

Luckily, the spider was in the bedroom.

They did not react. Then her father's gaze dropped to the floor and she looked over to see the boy she had removed from Jareth's arm crouched on the floor trying to stay unnoticed. Her eyes widened as she recognized him.

"How did you find him?"she asked Jareth incredulously.

"He found me,"Jareth advised with a shadowed look that suggested she was not going to like the story.

The boy noticed her looking at him and swallowed visibly. He straightened nervously and stepped forward until he was within two feet of her . He set his shoulders and lifted his chin.

"Chris had successfully Challenged the Labyrinth and has a boon to ask of the Goblin Throne,"Jareth said unexpectedly and the boy shot him an uncertain look.

Little wonder considering what he had accused Jareth of doing. Then again, he had reason to be suspicious and Sarah wondered at this boon business.

"Obligation?"she asked quietly.

Jareth hesitated. "Let us say...a responsibility to be met if possible. The Labyrinth will not Bind us to it, but the right to ask is written into Goblin Law. To refuse without cause would once have brought us before the Courts of the Inner Kingdoms. Now..."Jareth shrugged and the boy looked dismayed,"but it is not a custom I would see rejected."

He looked at the boy and arched an eyebrow."So child, what would you ask of my Queen?"

Sarah wondered if the emphasis on her rank was for the child or her family but decided it didn't matter. The boy's eyes had widened and his hands were shaking.

"I wanted to ask if..." the boy started to say, then stopped abruptly. He gazed at Jareth with an intent look on his face, then licked his lips slowly.

"I wanted to ask you to protect my sister,"he said abruptly.

A spike of surprise flared in Jareth's matrix and from the look on the Goblin King's face, this was not what Jareth had expected the child to request. Still, he seemed pleased with the boy.

"A generous request,"Jareth drawled."Are you certain?"

The boy glanced at Sarah, a hint of fear in his eyes. Then his shoulders straightened as he gazed at her and he nodded firmly.

"We can hardly be expected to protect her if you can be held hostage against her. " Jareth said with a sigh."I suppose that means we will be required to find a place for you as well."

The boy's head shot up, startled. Sarah was surprised by the look of hope in his eyes as he looked at her. She was more shocked when Jareth snorted.

"You must earn your place in the Queen's Guard, boy. I'm thinking you are in sore need of training."

The child's eyes flashed and he tightened his fists,"I can fight."

Jareth tilted his head,"Not yet, child."He glanced at Sarah."I have a mind to approach your Captain about whether he needs a squire."

Intrigued, Sarah eyed Jareth with interest. "He's over at Tent City with Dennis. They're teaching a class."

Jareth flashed a satisfied smile."Perfect."

He held his hand out to the boy who eyed it suspiciously for a moment. He laid his small hand in Jareth's deceptively strong grip and they were gone before Sarah could think to ask about the sister. She sighed and turned back to three sets of disbelieving eyes.

"He does that,"she said reassuringly.


	35. Chapter 35

It was official.

Karen was a saint, and Sarah had seriously underappreciated her all these years.

"She hates me,"Sarah said resentfully.

"Yep,"Dennis agreed, unconcerned.

She glared and Dennis smiled as he flipped the page of his dilaptated book and went back to trying to decipher the spells scrawled across the stained paper.

"What am I supposed to do with a teenager who hates me?"Sarah demanded.

Maybe she was rewriting history, but she vaguely recalled wanting people to like her when she was fifteen. Mari not only did not want people to like her, she seemed to go out of her way to get people to dislike her. It had taken her ten minutes to alienate everyone under the age of thirty in the Tent City classroom and five more to alienate everyone else.

At the moment, she was feeling a desperate impulse to run to her parents' hotel and drag Karen back by her ears. The poor woman would probably need Valium - Jareth's disappearing act had NOT gone over well - but maybe she would have some suggestions. Sarah winced as she remembered the stunned expressions on her parents' faces and could only be glad that Jareth had not shown up in his shift form. Or turned into an owl.

Not so oddly, her father had not had a thing to say. She still wasn't certain if he was more upset about the fact that she was turning into a dragon - or the fact Jareth had waltzed into her bedroom and emerged in different clothes. Her father, she discovered, was a bit of a prude.

No one had told Linda yet,but no one had suggested leaving the country. She had had two very stilted teas in local restaurants where her father just stared at her with blank incomprehension and Karen tried to make small talk. Toby had gotten himself banned from the second tea after asking if he could see her sword during the first one.

All in all, not going well.

"How is her brother doing?" Dennis asked with absent interest.

Sarah restrained the impulse to pout with great difficulty."Fine. Sterling. Wonderful in fact. The kid adores him." She sniffed."Fickle child."

Dennis flipped another page and said nothing. Not much point. Chris's fascination with Gavin was hardly a secret. If it wasn't for his height, Sarah might have thought her Captain had sprouted a second shadow. Not that Sarah was looking for anything similiar from his sister, but would it kill the girl to be pleasant for even five minutes out of every day? Just five?

Then she could go back to being miserable for the other 23 hours and 55 minutes.

Not that her brother's defection to the masculine camp had reduced her jealousy any. If anything, Mari seemed determined to blame Sarah for alienating her brother, ruining her life, and world hunger.

"What are you going to do?" Dennis asked.

"Tie her up and throw her in the Bog, I guess,"Sarah said morosely.

It was a measure of her frustration that Dennis had to think about that for a moment before deciding she was joking. As it was, she was only half joking. Her dragon kept urging her to thump the daylights out of Mari and ground her until she was fit for decent company. Jareth listened to Sarah's complaints with a strange look on his face, then he hugged her and went off to do whatever it was he had found to do with himself while Sarah struggled not to strangle the brat.

The odd neck-ruffling feeling she got when she turned to find the girl glaring at her wasn't helping matters.

"Girl's a psychotic, serial killer,"Sarah muttered."Mark my words."

She couldn't help feeling sorry for the girl though. It didn't take a brain surgeon to realize the girl must have had a rotten childhood. Not even Gavin could pry more than a few mumbled words from the boy. The mother was dead, that was all they knew for certain. Instinct and dime store psychology told Sarah that the girl would need certainties before she could begin to trust. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to go about doing that.

The girl had refused to sleep in the tent she had been given. Deciding that sending her across the Barrier every night would be too much like exile - and not trusting her not to abuse the goblins - Sarah had been forced to a drastic compromise. The third night she disappearred, Sarah had hauled her hissing and screaming back to the apartment and had Gavin layer the apartment with impenetrable shields. She could leave only if accompanied by Sarah or a designated adult and she slept on the sofa.

The fairies had bitten Mari twice and the spider wouldn't go near her. Sarah had resigned herself to finding Jareth on her bed singing low-voiced duets with the eight-legged beast. Even the ragged cat - now obscenely fat and lazy - managed to make himself scarce whenever Mari was exiled to the garden after Sarah lost her temper with the sulks and sullen shrugs. Truthfully, she would have gotten the girl a pet of her own, but the girl had ignored the suggestion and Sarah had been slightly--apprehensive-- about getting anything that couldn't defend itself.

She had only been partially kidding about wondering if the child was psychotic.

She would have paid for therapy, but who was she supposed to call? Jareth had suggested waiting a few more weeks, again giving her that strange look she couldn't interpret. So the child had no territory of her own, couldn't be trusted with a pet or unsupervised responsibilities, hated Sarah with a passion that was more than a little disconcerting, and treated questions about what she wanted out of life with lip curling disdain.

Sarah was sure there was probably something she wasn't doing wrong.

But she hadn't found it yet.

Sarah had taken her to visit the stationhouse on her off-shift. Mari had been silent and Sarah had initailly thought things were going well. Then she had caught a glimpse of the girl's eyes as she stared around the kitchen at the firefighters and was shocked at the level of hatred and contempt she saw in those eyes. She'd hurriedly ended the trip and had begun to seriously wonder just how far out her depth she had gotten.

Jareth could not have known how damaged this girl was, could he?

Mari had refused to answer any questions beyond sneering that Sarah was a fool if she beleived the men were as heroic as they pretended. The contempt was broken briefly by something that looked like resentment, then was gone and Mari was back to ignoring her. Sarah only managed to get her limited cooperation on the Embassy grounds by blackmailing her into moderately civilized behaviour. Mari would act as Sarah's page and Sarah wouldn't leave her locked in the apartment.

The girl's matrix promised the potential for strength and that was as worrisome as it was a relief. The magic lessons with Dennis were the one place Mari generally behaved herself. Unfortunately, Sarah was under no illusions about her motivations. The girl refused to work with the other mages, instead, focusing on offensive spells. She practiced them obsessively to the point where Dennis had been forced to wrap her in magical restraints to allow her matrix time to heal.

Sarah had been beside herself trying to cope with the sulking when Jareth appeared and took the girl off to teach her how to fight with blades. Sarah doubted the wisdom of that training but was just glad to get rid of the child for a few hours. She was certain a psychologist would have said the girl was testing her limits-however Sarah was rapidly reaching her own. She wasn't sure what the girl thought would happen when Sarah reached the end of her rope, but Sarah was depressingly certain both of them were about to find out.

She would have felt better about herself if she could have found something about the girl to admire, but compassion only went so far and the girl's sullen attitude was quickly overshadowing everything else. She was intelligent, no doubt. Jareth had warned Sarah about that. But there didn't seem to be anything else to her but defensive anger and hatred. Sarah had always considered herself compassionate and loving. Certainly she loved her family and friends. However she was quickly losing patience with offering a hand only to have it bitten off at the wrist.

She would have made a bad foster parent.

Frankly, she was beginning to wonder how they did it.

She hated the fact that she was beginning to resent spending time around the child. It wasn't Mari's fault she had a crappy childhood. Sarah wanted to be understanding and supportive. She wanted to assure the girl she had a home and no one going to take it away from her. Hell, she had said as much to the child. The girl didn't seem to care. Or she didn't beleive her. Whatever. Either way, Sarah was fairly certain this situation was going to end in disaster.

She just hoped it didn't end in bloodshed.


	36. Chapter 36

Jareth was beginning to think he had miscalulated.

Again.

Truly, Sarah was developing a right talent for putting cold iron spikes to the best of his intentions. In his own defense, Mari had seemed less deranged on initial acquaintence. Be that as it may, however, he had erred seriously with regards to his Champion. To Sidhe eyes, the twelve year gap in their ages was a mere blink of the eye and he had thought the child might allow herself to find a friend in Sarah. A compatriot. Perhaps an older sister.

He had not anticipated that Sarah's ingrained confidence would trigger a Sidhe instinct to bond.

Nor that the child herself would fight so hard against her own instincts.

Jareth found himself at a loss as to how to proceed. The child was committed to her path, whether she consciously willed it or no. Instinct was inflexible in these matters. Sarah must either chose or reject the child completely and yet he himself had placed her in a position of responsibility for the girl.

The problem was that Sarah saw the girl as the Sidhe child she was. Sarah might not possess the Sidhe instincts to protect, but clearly her human instincts sufficed in this matter. Her manner was unconditionally one of adult to child and whatever the girl's human half might have to say about that attitude, her Sidhe half was trying to grab and hold on with both hands. In fact, if Jareth had not known she was half-blood, he would have assumed her full Sidhe.

He was not helping with his decision to train the girl, but his own instincts were almost as inflexible as the child's own. Wryly he wondered how his human beloved was going to react to yet another revelation of Sidhe biological imperative. The situation would be much easier if the child would simply exert herself to be pleasant. The similarity of personality might be hidden beneath anger and aggression, but it was unmistakable. Nor could the child hide the fact that of all places, the only time her scent did not reek of fear was when she was standing next to Sarah.

She might not trust his Champion not to break her heart, but she clearly felt herself to be physically safe from unwanted advances while in Sarah's prescence. Jareth's mood darkened as he considered that fear and he felt his eyes shift with feral anger. The girl was still wary around Gavin. The Captain, however, was reacting better than Jareth would have in his place. Dennis had been moved early on to "mostly safe" and as far as Jareth could determine, he himself had somehow managed to be seen as entirely safe, likely an unconscious reaction to his bonded scent.

The advantage of that lack of fear, was that he could occassionally break through her anger once he had exhausted her sufficiently.

Mari was weaving on her feet, eyes focused on his blade. She was a stubborn child. He had expected her to collapse a good fifteen minutes past. Still, she gamely raised her sword and tried to block his next attack. In truth, the girl might someday be a passable swordfighter one day, but she didn't have the instinctive feel for the weapon that Sarah possessed. That she refused to switch to the dagger, a blade she had a natural affinity towards, was a sad commentary on how desperately she was trying to get his Champion's attention.

"Enough, child,"Jareth said finally, disengaging.

"Five more minutes,"Mari said stubbornly.

"Five more minutes and you will be too injured to assist Sarah this evening,"Jareth said evenly.

The child grimaced and shrugged."I don't care."

"Tell your lies to someone who can't smell the truth, child"Jareth said dryly.

She scuffed at the floor and glared at nothing.

"It would help your cause greatly if you at least pretended to like her,"Jareth added.

"I don't like her!"Mari snapped.

Jareth tilted his head."I don't suppose you do. Not at the moment. But you do understand why you are so angry with her, do you not?"

The sword went flying and Mari clenched her feet as she stared at him furiously."I hate her. I want to go home. She's only helping me because Chris asked her to. Well I don't want her help. I don't need her help. I can take care of myself!"

"Can you?"Jareth asked mildly.

A split second later the girl was on her back, the point of his sword at her throat.

"Never give up a weapon you might need, child."

Her eyes flashed and Jareth felt an odd ripple in her matrix before she bared her teeth at him.

"That's the spirit, girl. But courage will not win a war if you chose your battles unwisely. You are unarmed and your protector is nowhere to be seen."

She scrambled desperately for her discarded blade and Jareth let her get within touching distance before pouncing. He kicked the blade from her grip and smiled ferally.

"I don't need to be male to be a threat, foolish one. Not when children toss their weapons away." He sent her flying with a whack to the shoulder using the flat of his blade. "Sarah is a weapon, you foolish girl. One you could be cultivating. One who could teach you much. Instead, you leave yourself vulnerable due to pride."

She glared at him, hatred and fury flaring high in her matrix - but no fear. Good.

"Pride had killed better Sidhe than you child," he said again, hoping to provoke her.

She screamed and lunged for her blade. This time he let her grasp it and spent the better part of five minutes fending off a hysterial flurry of blows that threatened his eardrums more than his safety. He didn't quite understand the despair that darkened her matrix as she tired. Whatever was driving her was goading her beyond sanity and he attacked again, hoping to lance whatever wound was festering.

"Approach her with kindness, girl. You will get kindness in return."

The girl abandoned her sword in favor of her more natural weapon. Jareth dodged the swipe of the dagger and parried just enough to keep her attacking.

"I don't need her. I don't want her. She means nothing to me!"Mari hissed venomously.

"You are just like her,"Jareth snapped.

This time the shreik was mindless and she came at his with nails and fists. He let her work herself out, ignoring the tears that stained her face. Then he grabbed both wrists before she could harm herself in her fury. Her matrix rippled again and her magic lashed at him in blind panic. Expecting the reflex, he shielded easily, monitoring her matrix critically.

He frowned as her control slipped and her scent shifted oddly.

He had thought she was Earth skewed toward Fire. He frowned again as her shields collapsed and her juvenile pattern burned clean and clear. Fire, he thought, astonished. Strongly skewed to Earth which is how she had confused them. Then the rest of her pattern registered and he dropped her wrists in shock, stepping away from her.

Unseelie.

Reflex shifted his eyes and he hissed in confused warning when she crouched and glared at him. The crazed maelstrom of emotions that poured through her matrix then were unidentifiable. Pain, anger, bitter fury...anguish. She lashed out again and he parried instinctively, harder than he intended. Her matrix shuddered and feral reflex rippled again. Her scent shifted and he twitched uncomfortably. He stepped backward uncertainly and she straightened, his instinctive rejection triggering a fury he finally understood.

Unseelie.

"I don't need her. I don't need you,"Mari hissed."You think I'm weak? I'll show you weak..."

Her scent shifted again to the full flowering of a Sidhe female in love and he stumbled to his knees as his body shuddered in reaction. Instinct fought back as he remembered who she was-and what she could be. Longing shivered through him and he almost cried out when her scent shifted again, hints of Sarah's unique fragrance winding through the perfume in the air.

"Mari...don't..."he managed.

She grinned ferally, then spun around when the door to the dojo opened and Gavin stepped inside. The Captain's head snapped up and Jareth could see his nostril's flaring. Gavin froze, instincts conflicting with knowledge and Jareth saw him shake his head in dazed confusion.

"Help..."Jareth croaked out.

Mari laughed when Gavin shook his head sharply and disappeared.

Jareth was unconcerned. He was not abandoned. Gavin would get Sarah. All Jareth had to do was hang on until she could get here. Then this Unseelie child would learn the meaning of fury.

Jareth bared his teeth in feral anticipation.


	37. Chapter 37

Sarah had barely a moment to recognize Gavin in the wild-eyed man who appeared in her living room before he grabbed her hand and teleported them both halfway across the city. Staggering as they appearred outside the dojo, she turned as Gavin fell against her shoulder, drawing strength from her matrix and shocking her with the ease with which he did it.

"Jareth..."Gavin gasped, still shaking from the strain of teleporting two people with such haste."Trouble."

She was lunging for the doors when he grabbed her wrist, jerking her to a halt.

"It's Mari,"he said grimly."She's Unseelie."

Sarah swiveled, shocked,"What?"

Gavin shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. "Sorry...can't think. I ...won't be able to... help. She's Siren. Half-blood, I think."

Well, hell.

Gavin dragged several deep breaths into his lungs, clearly trying to regain control. "Sirens lie...with scent. She...hell, I can't think like this!"he exclaimed with disgust.

Used to working with men most of her adult life, Sarah had not immediately noticed his condition. Now, she realized he was painfully aroused, his eyes glazed. Gavin noticed the direction of her gaze and shuddered.

"It's worse for Jareth. She's using your scent - at least, how you'd smell if you were Sidhe."

For a moment she didn't recognize the emotion she felt first. The jealousy caught her by surprise. Then fury ignited.

"Why did you need me?"she demanded.

Gavin tilted his head back and drew in several more deep breaths. "Jareth. I don't think she knows what she's playing with. He knows what she is, but she'll break his control eventually. I couldn't risk splitting his attention by distracting him."

The look on his face also suggested exactly what might have happened if the distraction had worked. Sarah narrowed her eyes grimly. Gavin was the better swordsman, but Jareth could shred his matrix before his weapon cleared leather.

"It's all instinct, right?"

Gavin nodded sharply.

Sarah didn't pause as she turned for the door. Gavin reached for her wrist once more.

"Sarah...she's not afraid of him. I don't think she understands. She doesn't think he's a threat like... the rest of us."Gavin forced out, shame and fury in his eyes.

Sarah blinked as she worked that one out. Then she nodded and Gavin let her go.

The dojo was unnaturally quiet and Sarah's gaze was instantly drawn to the other side of the room. Fury flared higher as she found Jareth on his knees. As she walked across the floor, her footsteps echoing softly, his head turned slightly and she was releived the idiot child hadn't driven him completely feral.

Mari looked up and for a moment Sarah thought she saw a flash of horror in her eyes. Then it was gone, swallowed by anger. This time, however, Sarah had a better idea what was happening. Dennis had given her one too many hints and had broken quickly when she ordered him to tell her what was going on.

Just another side affect of Sidhe sexual altruism.

Given the sheer number of adults who must have died during the Exodus, Sarah was not surprised this trait had survived. Sidhe children were even more vulnerable than their human counterparts and for a lot longer. Until they could shift-heal, any damage to their matrix could kill them or permenantly cripple their abilities. It made sense that children would be driven to search out those best able to protect and train them. Nor was she surprised that female Sidhe were equally driven to protect those they found compatible.

That sexual altruism of theirs was a survival instinct after all.

The strongest, the best, and the widest selection of genes. Those were all things that needed to be preserved so that the group could survive as a whole. She supposed the Sidhe habit of fostering children as apprentices simply met a biological imperative built into them when parents and children differed too greatly in magical ability and personality. It also explained Chris's obsession with Gavin.

Like to like.

Just her luck that the child who fixed her attention on Sarah was a few bulbs short of a Christmas tree.

"You think you are going to kill me?"Mari sneered.

Sarah tilted her head."Wasn't planning on it."

Uncertainty flared in the girl's eyes, then she looked at Jareth and a knowing smile crossed her lips.

"He wouldn't let you,"Mari said confidently.

Sarah might not be able to smell how the girl shifted her scent, but she felt the change pulsing in her matrix and saw Jareth shudder slightly. His eyes glittered a hot gold that was not reassuring. Gavin was right. The girl truly didn't understand what she was doing.

"You use scent like an illusion, right?"Sarah asked quietly.

Mari eyed her suspiciously.

"He thinks you're me?"Sarah added.

Mari stayed silent, then shook her hair back defiantly. "They're all the same."

Sarah didn't ask her to elaborate. Instead she was keeping a wary eye on Jareth. Rage at what the child was doing to him warred with concern. To have gotten him into this state, the girl had to be pumping out pheremones by the truckload. Both men acted drugged. Gavin had nearly been incoherent and he wasn't bonded to her. But if Jareth was literally half out of this reality...

Did the girl understand what was going to happen if she kept turning up the heat?

"What are you going to do when he loses control?"she demanded.

Mari's eyes flickered uncertainly, then she smirked."He won't hurt me. He thinks I'm you."

The confidence in that statement was terrifying. Heartbreaking given the source, but terrifying. The child had no idea she had the power to destroy the man in front of her.

"Mari,"Sarah said carefully,"he won't know he's hurting you."

Not when the girl was simulating the appearance of a fully aroused Sidhe female.

Jareth had started to shift his attention toward Sarah. Fearing a loss of control, Mari boosted the power of her illusion. Sarah felt the slash of it through her matrix and felt Jareth's control snap.

With a screech he launched himself forward, hands grabbing Mari by the shoulders as he shoved her up against the wall. Sarah had a brief flash of terrified eyes, then the girl instinctively tried to regain control. Sarah wasn't certain what effect this would have had on Gavin, but Jareth was a bonded male with only one thought on his mind. And to that mind, Mari was Sarah, eager and demanding.

Sarah reached them just as Mari slapped at Jareth, trying to push him away. The slap disorientated him and Sarah wrapped her hand in his hair, wrenching his head around to her. Mari had long since lost control of her matrix, but given how Gavin had continued to react outside, Sarah doubted Jareth would come to his senses anytime soon. Luckily, Sarah just had to give him a different target. Mari had used Sarah's scent, after all.

She did wonder at his sudden fondness for walls when she felt her back hit plaster.

"Stay with Gavin,"she ordered, briefly making eye contact with the terrified teenager weeping on the floor.

She barely noticed the girl run for the door. With the immediate danger past, she was thinking this thing could get painful. Although he hadn't shifted, Jareth was still trapped by the pheromones in the air he was breathing and from the way he was acting, what he was seeing and hearing didn't bear much resemblance to reality. And she was a few stages behind where he thought she was.

She needn't have worried.

Wrapping her legs around his waist slowed him down enough for her fight or flight reaction to shift its focus. Thinking fond thoughts about human primitive sexual response, her body reacted hungrily to the man grinding his hips against her own, oblivious to the layers of clothing trapped between them. His hands made short work of her shirt and she chalked up another wardrobe casualty to passion. By the time her bra joined her t-shirt she was almost as mindless as he was. Almost.

She had just enough brain cells firing to hope Gavin had thrown a net over the dratted girl.


	38. Chapter 38

By the time the pheromones released him, Jareth was beyond control. Not feral, no. Not something so instinctively rational, if Sarah was correct. Jareth snarled as he rolled to his feet, shifting to his cross-link as he stalked for the door. White-hot fury cascaded through him, the fully aroused rage of a Sidhe male whose bond has been threatened by another.

Gavin took one look at his face and stepped away from his prisoner.

His Queen's Captain had taken no chances and Jareth regarded his precautions with approval. Shields layered the Unseelie bitch and mortal restraints bound her hands. Satisfaction flickered in Gavin's eyes when Jareth silently drew his sword. Tears rolled down the deceitful features of the traitorous filth and her eyes darted between both males, no doubt looking for a weakness she could exploit. Jareth pulled his lips back in a feral smile when hope fade from her eyes.

"Jareth!"

The bitch raised her head and Jareth was unprepared for the widening of her eyes as she looked past him, nor the sudden rage and betrayal she turned on him. Instinctively Jareth glanced behind him, taking in the sight of his half-clothed mate crossing the space between them. He swallowed tightly, rage flaring higher as he saw the marks visible on her throat and the bloody bite on her left shoulder, as well as the fact she was hopping across the pavement struggling into his clothes.

He could only imagine what he had done to her own.

His hand trembled slightly and he scented Gavin's fury flare in tandem with his own. As one they turned toward the faithless bitch who had betrayed everything the Sidhe stood for and protected. His sword glittered in the sunlight and he screeched as he swung for her head. Metal cried out as blade clashed with blade and he watched stunned as the edge of his sword missed the Unseelie traitor by a hair's breadth.

"She's mine, Jareth,"Sarah ground out.

Instincts cried out in protest, then reluctantly acceded to her wishes. She eyed him warily, blade still tangled with his own. He stepped back and allowed the dragon her prey.

"I claim her,"Sarah said grimly.

Disbelief held him suspended, trapped between fury and betrayal. He stared at his mate and tried to wrap his mind around the implications of her words. Offended instincts urged him to swing and end the Unseelie threat forever. Other instincts, spurred to life by her words, whispered at him to wait. He shook his head in frustrated rage.

"You don't know what you are doing,"he said hoarsely, pleading with her take the words back.

Sarah met his pleading gaze firmly."I claim her."

There was no trace of apology in her voice. Harsh knowledge, yes, he could see that. She knew what she was doing. He tilted his head back and screamed in avian fury. She held firm and he glared hotly at his mate as she betrayed him. He shook with tremors as his body demanded he act, end the threat. Remove the Unseelie from existence.

"Sarah,"he begged. Please.

"I claim her,"Sarah said gently.

What was said was said.

Thrice said and sealed.

His sword slid back into its sheathe with a harsh metal rasp and his wings drooped defeat as he conceded. The traitor belonged to Sarah.

"Not to the throne,"he said flatly.

"No,"Sarah agreed. Then her expression hardened.

"Leave us alone, please,"she said grimly."I have a few things to say to my daughter."


	39. Chapter 39

Sarah watched two very disgruntled Sidhe cast her nearly identical expressions of angry protest, then disappear. Mari's stunned expression faded to suspician and wariness. Sarah supposed she couldn't be blamed for that reaction, but now that she had succeeded in saving the child's life, she wasn't quite certain why she had done so. God knows what she had just done to her relationship with Jareth.

All for a child she didn't even like.

She untangled the girl from the overkill of shields Gavin had wrapped around her. She debated leaving the restraints in place, but if the child was going to run, she might as well find out now. Mari rubbed her wrists with quick nervous motions, peering at Sarah then letting her gaze dart away. Sarah didn't have to be Sidhe to smell the fear scent rising from her skin and the dragon curled its lip in satisfaction.

She was still pissed that the girl had used Sarah's own scent to trap Jareth.

Oddly, the girl seem morbidly focused on the bite on Sarah's shoulder. Sarah didn't bother hiding it. The girl needed an object lesson in consequences and -though she hated to admit it - she was furiusly glad the girl could see that in spite of her machinations, Jareth belonged to Sarah. Lock, stock, and shift form.

Sarah stomped on the jealousy that flared again as she considered that this child had used as a weapon, something Sarah would have given her soul to possess. Drugged or no, there was no ignoring the tiny voice that whispered Jareth had been driven out of his mind by a scent she did not - and could never - emulate. Sarah had no doubt the overreaction was a result of an overdose of pheromones, but that same ugly little voice wondered just how empassioned Sidhe could get under normal circumstances.

Had she robbed Jareth of a passion he was capable of achieving only with another Sidhe?

Ignoring the voice, she stuffed personal considerations into a mental closet and closed the door. For now, she had another, potentially very dangerous, situation. Her dragon was convinced she should kill the brat. Jareth and Gavin were convinced she should kill the brat. Sarah's monkey reflexes weren't so thrilled with the girl, either. So why was she hesitating?

Why had she _claimed_ the girl of all things?

Panic shivered through her as she realized just what she had done. For a moment she was tempted to hop a plane and drag Karen back by her ears. Her stepmother would know what to do. She had already dealt with one pissy teenager. Surely she could suggest a way to deal with another. Unfortunately, Karen wasn't here, and Mari was more wounded than Sarah knew how to comprehend. But Sarah had gotten a second chance and no matter how badly she wanted to wash her hands of the situation, for a split second when Mari had first seen Sarah, it had been like looking in a twelve year old mirror.

_I didn't mean it._

Sarah's redemption had been easy. Thirteen hours of her life that had shaped the woman she was to become. There would be no such easy answers for this child. Mari's bitterness and anger were real. So was the fact that she was half-blood Unseelie. The only glimmer of hope Sarah possessed was the very real love the girl had for her brother. If Jareth had told the truth, the girl had sacrificed herself to give her brother the future he wanted. Sarah was certain some had been a weariness and lack of hope that had just wanted the fight to be over, but still...

Maybe there was something to be salvaged.

"It felt good, didn't it?"Sarah asked bluntly. "Bringing a man like that to his knees."

Mari flinched, then straightened her shoulders and regarded Sarah insolently.

"Did it help?"

A flicker of confusion came and went in the girl's eyes. Sarah smiled without humor.

"Did it make the pain go away?"Sarah demanded."He's just like the others, right? All the ones who would never look at you and see someone worthwhile. Did it hurt less to know he was just as weak, just as easy to fool as the others?"

It was a stab in the dark, but she had seen the surprising look of accusation on Mari's face when she saw what Jareth had done to Sarah's shoulder. Sarah was more than a little interested in the part of the girl that had seen those bruises and felt betrayed. Perhaps it was only Sidhe instinct - or Unseelie, she supposed - but the girl had honestly beleived Jareth would not hurt Sarah. Which might help explain why he had been the target of her fury when she had finally lost her temper.

Jareth had been safe.

Either she had believed in Jareth's control, or she was testing it. Regardless, it implied a desire to trust that might just indicate she was not as lost to hatred as she appeared. Sarah watched as Mari glared at the ground, but did not speak. She debated saying more on the subject, then decided the girl would have to find her own conclusions. She was smart enough to understand the accusations behind Sarah's words. Maybe if she didn't force the issue, the girl would actually think about what she had said.

"Why did you...?"Mari started, then clamped her teeth around the question.

"Why did I claim you?"

Mari scuffed a toe, then glared."You don't like me."

"You haven't exactly made yourself likeable, have you?" Sarah responded honestly.

Mari flinched and Sarah wondered if maybe she had been too honest. Then sighed. She was not the right person for this.

"Everyone deserves a second chance,"she added after a long moment.

Mari frowned at her through the untidy spill of her hair and Sarah stared at her, shocked for a moment at how much she looked like Jareth when she did that. Arrested, she took another look at the spiky hair and realized that except for the too delicate features that more typified the Sidhe from Above, the girl really could have been his daughter. Especially if someone like Corrine had been her mother.

_Okay_, Sarah thought. _My life had officially gotten too weird_.

"Do you want me to apologize?"Mari asked in a low voice.

Sarah narrowed her eyes suspiciously. That had been said with more than a touch of resentment. Still, it was a valid question. Hell, the kid got points for asking in the first place. Score one for borderline authority.

"What for?"she asked curiously.

Mari glared at her, animosity and scorn easily readable.

So much for authority.

"You know why,"Mari said resentfully. "For using my magic."

Sarah snorted before she could stop herself and Mari eyed her with uneasy surprise when Sarah rolled her eyes.

"You don't meet many Sidhe do you?"she asked with true humor. "Nervy bastards will use anything if it gives them an edge. Magic being just one of their tools. No...if you are going to apologize, you'll need a better reason than that."

Mari's jaw had dropped slightly and she was staring at Sarah as if she had just grown an extra head and three octopus limbs.

"Mari,"Sarah said."You think if Jareth could do what you could do he wouldn't use it? They grow up learning how to manipulate each other with glamour and subtlety and anything else they can wrap their teeth around. But..."Sarah let her expression grow serious,"do you understand why he was so angry?"

"Because I pretended to be you,"Mari said with a shrug.

"Try again,"Sarah said evenly.

Mari frowned and Sarah wondered if she was too young to understand. Then the girl's eyes slid to her shoulder.

"Because you got hurt,"the girl muttered.

Sarah studied her with a comtemplative frown. There had been an edge of condemnation in that youthful tone she didn't like.

"Close,"she said finally.

Mari just stared at her, silent. Sarah rubbed at her forhead and wished Dennis were making the explainations.

"Jareth's overriding biological purpose in life is to protect the females in his life. He had spent his whole life learning how to control his magic and his emotions, and the one type of threat he has never had to face being is a sexual one. As a Sidhe he never has to be worried about losing control unless the woman he is with is willing. Do you understand? It's something he can depend on. You took that safety away from him. Not only could he have hurt me, he could have hurt you-and he knew damn well what your instincts wanted from me."

Mari's head snapped up, an angry protest on her lips.

Sarah held up one hand."Did he send you away?"

Mari froze.

Sarah grimaced."Told you they were sneaky bastards. Never say one thing when they can manipulate five more. So he was already thinking that there might be the possibility I might claim you. I'll bet if I ask, I'll find out that instinct was one of the reasons he was able to resist long enough for me to get to him."

She couldn't read the tangled emotions that flashed across the girl's face with any degree of certainty. Shock. Horror. Guilt. And others too quick to decipher. Distress, probably. A hint of calculation.

That last was worrisome, but probably genetic.

She'd be wondering how she was ever supposed to get Jareth to trust her again too, if she was in Mari's shoes. Then again, Sarah wasn't going to let the girl take the blame for the fact the Sidhe were uncomfortable with the sexual power Mari possessed. She sympatized. Given the certainties that the power of scent had built into their culture she could only begin to imagine what kind of shock she represented. But just because she could be a threat, didn't make her Unseelie.

In memory she heard the inflexible tone as Dennis advised her how Sidhe reacted to emotional threats.

She wondered grimly just how many people like Mari had been executed because of Sidhe instinct.

The anger was back and Mari was clenching her fists as she glared at Sarah.

"I can't change what I am,"Mari shouted.

Wincing at the overreaction, Sarah had an unpleasant flashback to her own shouted accusations to Karen and wondered if Fate had decided to have a bit of fun at her expense.

"You don't have to yell, child,"she replied as mildly as she could, channelling Jareth's annoying but oh so scathing courtesy.

Mari flounced to a nearby bench and threw herself into it. Sarah regarded her with true amusement and a bit of chagrin. Karen would be laughing her ass off right about now.

"Nor am I asking you to apologize for what you are. At the moment all that matters is that you are Mari. Whatever else you might become is up to you."

Mari sneered."Easy for you to say."

"Isn't it?"Sarah agreed. "On the other hand, a Goblin Princess does have a fair amount going for her."

Mari looked startled.

"You aren't in line for the throne, but you'll still have responsibilities."

Sarah was about to continue but the girl still appearred dazed at the realization she was now Goblin royalty. Sarah decided to let her muse on that fact for a few hours. It was probably good for her to start thinking about what advantages such a position could give her before Sarah started making demands.

The problem now, was what to do with her.

In the end she called Dennis and asked if he's watch Mari for the next few hours. There was a startled silence on the other end of the line and she wondered if he had been talking to Gavin yet. Then he agreed to pick the child up and Sarah mentally rehearsed what she wanted to say to Jareth.

Neither Gavin nor the Goblin King were going to be happy with what she had to say.


	40. Chapter 40

"Have you taken leave of your senses?"Jareth asked, way too politely.

"What else are we supposed to do with her?"Sarah asked.

"Locking her in the dungeon works for me,"Gavin muttered.

Sarah threw him an exasperated look and he gestured apologetically.

"It's just that...she's Unseelie, Sarah. This whole plan is insane,"Gavin told her.

Sarah planted her fists on her hips and stared him down."As of right now, that word is banned from this apartment in conjunction with Mari."

"What word?"Gavin asked morosely."Insane?"

Sarah turned to Jareth who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, expression hard.

"What set her off, anyway?"

A flicker of something crossed his face. Uncertainty, followed closely by something that looked like guilt. Gavin's nostrils flared suddenly and he turned his head to peer at Jareth with surprise.

Jareth sighed."I was pushing her about you."

Even that much of a concession was clearly galling.

"How hard were you pushing?"Sarah asked suspiciously.

Guilt flickered again, this time echoing quietly in his matrix. "Hard,"he admitted.

Sarah's eyes narrowed."Just how hard is that in English?"

Jareth straightened and tugged on his hair with frustration."Hard enough to attack by reflex. Is that what you wish to hear? I did not expect..."His hands spread wide to encompass the three bodies in the room.

"Better we learned the truth now before she learned to conceal herself better,"Gavin said with a shrug.

Sarah snarled."Look, I understand why you two have issues with her. Get over it!"

Gavin bounced to his feet and glared back at her."She is a threat."

"Yes!"Sarah shouted."So am I! I don't see you threatening to lop off my head."

"Sarah, you don't understand..."Jareth began.

She glared."I understand just fine. For the first time in your lives you are out of control of your sexual responses and you don't like it. Join the club."

Jareth stared at her affronted."This is not about control, Sarah. It is about threat. I could have hurt you."

"Yes,"Sarah said flatly."You could have. And I understand. But it damn well is about control, Jareth. Your reflexes may keep you from being a sexual threat under normal circumstances, but they also level the playing field. Don't they? For you to lose control, the woman has to be in the same state. Now, you're faced with a situation where Mari could control you without loosing control herself. That's the real issue, isn't it?"

Gavin looked insulted, but Jareth was staring at Sarah thoughtfully.

"Don't you see?"she pleaded."It's no different than any other magic or weapon. It just came at you from a direction you didn't expect. You're seeing her the same way you see your feral shift form. It's just fear, Jareth. She doesn't have to be a threat. Not if she choses not to be."

"And if she does not chose not to be?"Jareth asked quietly.

"Then we deal with her,"Sarah said evenly."Like any other threat."

Gavin sighed as Jareth nodded slowly.

"I don't like this,"he said flatly."And I don't trust her."

"So don't trust her,"Sarah said."That's my job. Just train her."

Gavin stood and bowed acknowledgment. If she was reading him right, he still had serious reservations about the situation but wasn't going to fight with her over it. It was her decision to make.

"Where's the brat?"Gavin asked shortly.

"With Dennis,"Sarah responded, wondering if his obvious misgivings would help or hinder what they needed to do. She decided Mari wouldn't trust an 'all is forgiven' attitude anyway. Maybe having a skeptic in the group would keep her on her toes. And save them from mistakes made by those who would be forced to trust her.

Jareth remained silent until Gavin left.

"Do you truly understand what you have agreed to do, Sarah?"he asked quietly.

"Probably not,"she said with a sigh. "I just...I saw her eyes, Jareth. For a split second she knew exactly what she had done and she would have done anything to take the words back."

She could see she didn't have to explain what she meant.

"She is very damaged, Sarah,"Jareth warned."I admit I had hoped you would stand as friend to her, but I would never have chosen this path for you."

"Don't think I can handle her?"Sarah asked seriously.

Jareth gave her a long look. "I do not know,"he said finally. "You are so young. Even by human reckoning you are not at an age where time would begin to weigh upon you. Do you understand that this child will be decades in the unmaking, assuming we can succeed at all? The scars run deep and she is what she is. She will fight you every step of the way and may never thank you for your efforts."

"Would you ask that question if I were Sidhe?"Sarah asked, genuinely curious.

Jareth frowned."I cannot answer that question. A female capable of securing the girl's interest would have lived thrice your years and would understand how short and how long such a time can be. She would also understand just how dangerous such a child could be. I do not believe a Sidhe would ever have chosen as you have done. Perhaps if the child had exerted herself to be useful, yes. A Sidhe might see potential there. But in such a child?"

"And you call me the practical one,"Sarah murmured.

"There is naught about this plan that is practical, my love,"he said seriously. "Indeed, I see no benefit at all and much that such a choice could cost us."

Sarah was silent for a long moment, studying his face. The alien features. The Goblin King. For one moment she allowed herself to feel the sheer astonishment she always felt when she realized he was real. He was here, and he was hers. Her nemesis. Her salvation.

In the end, maybe that's the only reason she was doing this. Not for thanks, because she was fairly certain she would never hear any. Not for love, because that child she had just claimed likely didn't know the meaning of the word. But Jareth had been there for her. Ordinary, dreamy, melodramatic Sarah who just happened to be the one the land chose for him.

Who in their right mind would choose Mari?

"You were always my fairy tale, Jareth,"she said quietly.

Was that why she had done it? Because she felt guilty over everything fifteen-year-old Sarah possessed - and Mari never had. Foolish reason if it was true, but everyone should have at least one shot at a happy ending. Power was a responsibility, to use wisely. Maybe happiness was too. In a weird sort of way.

"It's the right thing to do,"she said finally, not having a better explanation.

He eyed her thoughtfully and could almost see him turning the puzzle pieces around in an attempt to fit them into a recognizable picture.

She wished him luck.


	41. Chapter 41

There were advantages to not having to hide the power in his matrix anymore.

No one got in his way.

Stalking into Jiann's workroom, he threw himself onto a low couch and glared as she calmly finished preparing a herbal mixture of some sort. Jareth gave it an evil look and wished his own problems could be so easily remedied. He did not wish to be here, but things were getting out of control. No...he amended. Things had passed far beyond out of control.

Jiann finally completed her task and raised a curious eyebrow at his disgruntled appearance.

He was beyond shame as well.

"What is known about Sirens?"he demanded.

A flicker of distaste came and went in his mother's eyes before she got her emotions under control. At the moment, Jareth was in full agreement with the sentiment.

"They are Unseelie,"Jiann replied shortly.

Sarah had made herself no friends with her decision to claim her Unseelie half-blood. Especially when it was discovered that neither half of Mari's bloodline was human. The girl was positively close-mouthed about her mother, but Chris had let it slip that the woman had been full Sidhe. Why such a woman would have carried a Siren half-blood to term was a question neither child had yet answered. Corrine had surprised Jareth with her noncomittal response to the situation, however, and with Jareth himself clearly accepting his Champion's claim on the child, he could hope that none of this would flare into open conflict.

Yet.

For his own part, Jareth was of two minds on the subject. The disasterous potential the girl presented as political leverage against the Goblin Kingdom was substantial. Yet, in truth, he did not require the support of the Upper Kingdoms and had never planned for such. Sarah's plans to use the part-bloods to help reclaim the Goblin Kingdom had always been an unlooked for bonus and with Corrine refusing to act the adversary, training proceeded.

The part-bloods themselves had not finished deciding how they felt about Mari. On a personal level, the child was not popular, but her offensive nature had always been that of an umpleasant child, not a predator. Most part-bloods had no trouble interpreting how such an attitude could come about and were inclined to overlook that aspect of the situation. Many, Jareth suspected, were also curious, perhaps because the girl presented a normal face to something that had always been such an unstoppable terror for the part-bloods.

The child might be annoying, but she was no Belcraven.

A reluctant smile revealed the edges of Jareth's teeth as he considered that aspect of things. Sarah had not even tried to hide how the children had come to be under the protection of the Goblin Kingdom, and politically, that had been a master-stroke, although he doubted she had intended it as such. The Goblin Kingdom was obligated to the wished away. Always had been and always would be. That Belcraven consorted with Unseelie in any manner was not sitting well with Corrine's moderates. Belcraven had lost support when that fact was revealed and there were many who truly thought Sarah had claimed the child purely as a move against the Sidhe lord.

They were watching the developing situation with all the fervour of humans gathering for a sporting event.

Complete with popcorn.

The question of the girl's nature was forcing Belcraven and his activities into the public arena and in spite of his lack of response, the ongoing debate over Sarah's motives was keeping him there. Corrine's hands-off policy regarding Sarah had signalled that her patience with Belcraven was at an end. The vultures were circling and Jareth had no illusions that the man would continue to remain silent forever. Jareth and Gavin were both on high alert for attack.

Which made Jareth's present lack of control dangerous as well as galling.

"Does exposure to one have...side effects?"Jareth asked stiffly, unhappy with revealing such a personal - and embarassing- problem.

Not that it would be private for long. Not after last night's debacle.

Even Sarah was beginning to think he had lost his mind.

"Besides death?"Jiann asked dryly.

Jareth snorted with reluctant humor, then shifted uncomfortably. He had not experienced such a physical reaction since he reached the age of reason. Even as a child his reactions had been less...intense. And he had never been driven to such heights of lunacy. Sarah was not complaining, but she did not seem to realize he had not been playing last night. In fact, she had been so convulsed in laughter he had been worried she might damage something. Nor had he been in any condition to appreciate the joke.

Gavin's shocked expression had cemented the humiliation.

"Are you reacting to the girl?"Jiann asked curiously.

"No!"Jareth snapped. Then he crossed his arms and glared at his mother's workbench. "Such would almost be preferable."

"So she is not trying to control you?"Jiann asked.

"If she is, it is not intentional,"Jareth said sullenly. "But she...that first time, when she used Sarah's scent..."

Jiann raised both eyebrows as he trailed off. He had told his mother that he had lost control. She had accepted the explaination, Sirens were an understood danger after all. What he had not not described was the blinding intensity of the arousal he had felt - nor the fact that no one had ever roused such a response in him. At least, not prior to that point.

Perhaps training the child to use her abilities had driven him mad.

Neither Dennis nor Gavin had reported any similiar affects - although, neither were bonded, so perhaps the situation had not arisen. So to speak.

He glared at his mother."You might as well know that your son has lost all sense of reason. I have no doubt you will hear the details soon enough."

He was unprepared for the outright smile of delight that crossed his mother's face."Jareth! That is wonderful. I was worried it might take years given how slowly you were adjusting to Sarah's human pheremones."

He stared at her, mind blank and certain there was a logic in those words he had just missed.

Jiann frowned."Is Sarah adjusting? In truth I expect she will find the situation quite enjoyable. Humans are much more..."she trailed off as she caught the look on his face.

"Jareth?"

There was an ominous certainty about her expression and Jareth closed his eyes.

"Are you telling me this...this...situation is normal?" He ground out. Then he lunged to his feet and glared at her."No. I refuse to accept that. It is an aberation. I've been traumatized by a bloody half-Siren child and you need to fix it. Now."

Jiann giggled.

His mother actually giggled.

"Surely you must have suspected, Jareth,"she said reasonably.

"Suspected what?"he bellowed. "I have been reduced to a ...a...human!"

Jiann smirked."Not quite."

"Yes,"he snapped."Quite. Do you know what I have done?"

"Proably something embarassingly impetuous from your tone of voice,"Jiann chided.

"I threw her over my shoulder. In the middle of Corrine's Court,"Jareth yelled, ignoring the tempation to kick something.

"Did Sarah protest?"Jiann asked mildly.

Jareth froze, staring in surprise at this unexpected response.

"No,"he admitted grudgingly.

"Jareth,"Jiann said reassuringly,"your bond has stabalized. That is all."

"Stable?"Jareth yelped."Do I appear stable to you?"

Jiann smirked."Very."

Jareth threw himself back on the couch."Then we differ in our definitions."

"Surely you recall how it was when Lanna..."Jiann trailed off as she frowned. Then she regarded him thoughtfully. "I keep forgetting how young you were when Father gave you the Goblin Kingdom. Jareth...have you ever been around newly bonded pairs for any length of time?"

He refused to beleive this was normal. No.

No.No.No.

"Jareth?"

"No,"he said reluctantly.

"Ah."

He tilted his head back to find his mother watching speclatively.

"You were adapting to Sarah's pheremones normally, Jareth. Just very slowly given the fact she is human. I suspect whatever Mari did accelerated the process. The combination of Sidhe scent and Sarah's pheremones must have allowed your system to recognize her."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Mother,"Jareth said wearily.

Jiann frowned."You truly do not know what is happening?"

"I have said so, have I not?"

Jiann stared, non-plussed. "How could you not...?"

She trailed off and consternation crossed her face. "I did not realize how isolated you must have been,"she said quietly.

Jareth closed his eyes and refused to think about all those years of loneliness. What was done was done. It had been necessary and he had succeeded, had he not? Sarah was finally his. His Child of Fire. His Kingdom was secure and Despair had taken the first tentative steps home.

"Jareth...what you are feeling is normal,"Jiann said firmly."Nor is the loss of control permanant. Your system has simply learned to recognize Sarah as your mate."

"That does not explain the lack of control."

Jiann smirked."Just who do you think you are reacting to, Jareth?"

Jareth's eyes popped open."I am reacting to Sarah?"he asked incredulously.

"Well,"Jiann said thoughtfully,"given the...er...immediacy of your reaction, I'd say she was reacting quite strongly to you."

Jareth narrowed his eyes.

Jiann touched him gently on the arm."Your system has adapted to your mate's pheremones. You will always react strongly to her, but the loss of control is simply a temporary hypersensitivity while your body learns to cope with the change. No one will think anything of it, Jareth. Although I would suggest you tone down the games with Sarah in places where you wish to avoid overly obvious displays of passion."

Jiann's dry tone made it clear she thought he had brought last night's humilation on himself.

"And how long will this hypersensitivity last?"he asked suspiciously.

Jiann waved a careless hand."A few years at most."

He gaped.

"No,"he said bluntly."That is unacceptable."

Jiann rolled her eyes. Then she settled herself on the couch as he paced back and forth. Jareth resisted the urge to snarl as he caught the amusement in her scent. He glared. She could afford to be amused. She was not the one dealing with the end of the known world while being hampered by mindless passion. He grabbed the ends of his hair and tugged with frustration. He could hear the laughter now. The Goblin King reduced to an animal in rut the moment his mate walked into the room.

His easily aroused, human mate.

Jareth groaned.

As if things were not bad enough.


	42. Chapter 42

_A/N: I forgot to mention earlier, but the comment Karen made about Sarah marrying an actor was not original. I can't remember where I read it, but it was perfect response so I freely admit to making off with it. As far as I know, that's everything I've deliberatey hijacked, but hey...I read alot:) Sometimes its hard to tell._

* * *

"This is not my fault,"Sarah said with a groan, her shoulders pinned against the wall behind her. 

Jareth stayed where he was, face buried against her neck."It most certainly is your fault."

"Where the hell are we, anyway?" Sarah asked after a minute.

Jareth pried one eye open and stared at the walls of the storage closet with disgust. Did it matter?

"What could possibly have engaged your interest this time?"he asked finally, not certain he wished to know.

He had been positively stationary all evening. His uncolored blond hair had started the evening in a tied-back style that went out of fashion in the days of his father. He tried to recall if he had laughed, smirked, or raised a sarcastic eyebrow anywhere Sarah could see him. There was little that could be done with wardrobe as Sarah had proven to be relentlessly egalitarian when it came to fashion. Buttons, zippers, toggles, and leather ties...all seemed to have the same affect on his mate.

She was distressingly lacking in sympathy over his plight, although if pressed with cold iron he might have admitted she had gone along with his attempts to reduce...incidents.

Usually.

"Look, buster,"Sarah said through clenched teeth."This is not all my fault. You looked at me."

Jareth stared down at her disheveled hair and flushed features."I looked at you?"he echoed in disbelief.

She tried to smooth her hair before giving it up as a lost cause. Yanking a comb from his pocket - one of only a few items he had taken to carrying with him wherever they went - he returned her hair to order, ignoring the way she smiled when he absently caressed her head.

"Yes, you,"Sarah told him. "Every time I turned around, you were watching me."

"I certainly was not,"he denied instantly.

"Ha,"she replied.

"If I were so lost to reason as to make such a mistake, it's only because you attracted my attention,"he returned.

"Jareth,"Sarah said grimly."You'd have to be dead not to attract my attention."

Not certain that wasn't contemplation in her voice, Jareth groaned and rested his forehead against the wall beside her.

"This is impossible,"he moaned. "We cannot keep doing this."

"Look,"she said, clearly trying to sound reasonable. "Everyone in the Court is acting like this is normal. Maybe it is."

If only it were just the Court.

Jareth had learned to stand upwind when they were outside together. Mari had abandoned the apartment in disgust, moving into the tent she had been assigned in Tent City. Dennis was quietly amused and Gavin simply sighed and whacked Sarah with a newspaper whenever her attention started to wander in Jareth's direction. The human mages had figured some of it out, however Jareth was not amused that speculation about the owl origins of his shift form should elicit such merriment.

"But it's funny,"his mate had snickered when he glared at her with disfavor.

"I am NOT a horned owl,"he had ground out, then left her howls of laughter behind him as he stalked away to find sane company.

Sedgewort had taken one look at him and banned him from Embassy grounds whenever Sarah was converting gold. Jareth had been torn between disdain and slavish gratitude. The dwarf had just snorted and said he had no intention of getting hisself blown up by a love-sick dragon. Jareth forbore to mention she would have help getting herself blown up. He was beginning to wonder what affect this hypersensitivity of his might have on the raising of the Embassy walls.

There had been plenty of speculation about the cause of the blinding burst of power the night Sarah went feral, but as most of the energy had been contained, few had any idea just how much energy had been involved. The Earth mages - human and not -were hard at work repairing the damage Sarah had done to the land, but it was the healing of a cleansed wound only and they were nearly finished. Jareth had spent much of his time with the land as they worked and he was pleased to feel it finally begin to respond positively. It would be a few days more before it emerged fully from the dormant state into which that painful healing had sent it, but the land was stirring.

None of the Court had any inkling of the determination held by the human Earth mages to have the Embassy ready by September. Arbitrary date, Jareth thought with some exasperation. Mortal teaching institutions began in this month and so the humans were relentless in their plan to meet this deadline. Nor was the community willing to accept the alternative of moving to hotels for the winter. Jareth had even offered the hospitality of the Goblin Kingdom but if any had been tempted, the time differential had changed their minds. He was uncertain how they had gotten the impression they would lose time, but there it was.

Sarah had actually been pleased by the community's decision to stay together and between the promise of Fire Gems and Sedgewort's enthusiastic recruitment, Jareth thought they might just make it. But to do so would require the release of power not seen in this Kingdom since the Gates closed against Despair. If anything could spur Belcraven to act, the rising of the walls of the Goblin Embassy would be it.

He glanced down at Sarah who was indulging in the unaccountable pleasure she took in his facial markings. Her fingers were lightly tracing the bridge of his nose and if he did not understand her fascination, he found the approval in her eyes to be pleasing. There were also benefits to catering to her odd whims. Approached properly, she was usually willing to spend time on his hair, combing and braiding a warrior's elflocks into it.

He tilted his head as he considered whether he truly desired to go back to the ballroom, both of them leaving scent trails of sex and effort. In truth, the only reason he had suggested they present themselves this evening was the fact Sarah would spend the next four nights with her mortal colleagues in fire. She would be too busy afterwards preparing for the first stage of the Raising to be sociable.

The Goblin Kingdom had made its appearance however, and none would speculate the less for their absence. He discovered he would be just as pleased to have Sarah to himself this evening. He grinned mischievously and watched Sarah's eyes widen in surprise when his hands shifted position and went exploring. Jareth chuckled as she tilted her head back, then shuddered as his reaction to the shift in her scent shivered through him.

There were worse things, he judged, than being mated to a human.


	43. Chapter 43

A thin layer of ebony web laced the inner sweep of the massive shield Jareth had created to dome the Embassy grounds. Each strand was fully as wide as her body, yet to the eye and the senses, appeared barely more substantial than the tracery of a spider's thread against the crackle of the magical energy it protected. A far more sophisticated version of her early power sinks, the intricate webbing shimmered as it pulled random and undirected energy into itself, drawing it down into the ground where it slowly gathered in preparation for the raising of the Embassy walls.

The sheer exuberant power of the shield as it swept upward and disappeared high into the sky above left Sarah breathless. The nearly invisible wall pushed against her senses and hummed in electric song as the energy looped and spiraled in giddy delight and tempted Sarah to throw her arms wide and throw herself into the magic.

Jiann had gone stark white with terror when she first sensed it.

Sarah still did not completely understand the reaction and Jiann had refused to explain. Sarah did not want to ask Jareth - not when he was so clearly delighting in what Fire and Air were accomplishing together. If he had noticed his mother's odd reaction he was hiding it well and neither Gavin nor Dennis acted any differently around him. If anything, both men finally seemed to be relaxing in his presence and while Jareth had exerted himself to be polite-more or less-to her Council, he was actually spending time with her two chief advisors.

Jareth had made no attempt to mask the strength in his matrix since the day the Goblin Kingdom renounced the Inner Kingdoms but there had been plenty at the castle who matched his matrix for depth. At least a double dozen had felt even stronger, including his own mother. The mystery of it bothered her, more now than it would have, if only because she finally knew what price Jareth had paid to hold back Despair.

Whatever his grandfather might have intended, Sarah doubted he knew what his grandson had become. No one truly did. Not even Sarah, who finally knew enough. The meshing of their matrices, the pairing of Fire and Air to build the web of energy absorbing magic across the inner dome had stripped them both of their inner defenses. Jareth had known in theory what would happen, but even he had been shocked by the reality of their mutual vulnerability.

In spite of the warnings, she had been unprepared for the intoxicating sense of power and glorious sensation that had poured through her as their matrices had meshed to shape energy to her will. Taking a page from the human mages, Jareth had Gavin shield for them as they twisted reality and the wonder and fierce joy in Jareth as she wove her spell had shivered across her skin.

She had known her matrix was powerful, but as he spun her into the magic almost defiantly, pride and possessive fury driving him as he helped her cast her magic across his shield, she truly understood. She could feel the knowledge of what they were unfolding in his matrix as he tweaked her spell and showed her what to do as her spell faltered. Then he had cried out as the land shuddered abruptly and the magic rippled, their matrices flowing together unchecked, stripping the last of his illusions from him.

Memories had shivered along the magic. Aching bones and cracked skin. Half-dead horses stumbling across desert. Seared earth and bitter pain as he had fallen to his knees and dug fingers into lifeless sand and stared with dulled eyes too wretched dry to cry. Self cracked open and he spilled vulnerable and exposed across her inner landscape. Ruthlessness and hard-eyed feral determination snarled and snapped beneath High Court manners and she felt him freeze as he sensed her absorb that understanding of him.

This was not the Jareth she had met in the Labyrinth.

Sarah relived his early delight when he discovered a five year old mortal child and found a temporary escape from what his world had become. She felt the slow-growing watchfulness and calculation of the Goblin King briefly fade away as Jareth let a spoiled happy child grow into a spoiled, relatively happy teenager untouched by the blight of Despair. It had been Jareth's secret pleasure, that he could do this thing for her. That he could protect her. Through her he could reclaim some of the sheltered world he had lost. She felt the growing longing he had felt to face the gentle woman she would have grown to be, his desire to be her protector, her white knight, a man who would shield her from the harsh realities of their worlds.

Jareth was no longer that man.

The echoes of a spoiled young aristocrat were still there, buried beneath the machinations and the manipulations. A boy really, in spite of his biological age. Barely past the age of reason as Sidhe reckoned time. He had been changing slowly, Despair weighing him down, but he had still found it easy to grieve for the loss of the land as it died. Then he discovered that the will to survive when all was lost-when all was known to be lost and none could be faulted for that loss - was a far different matter than finding the courage to dare to succeed. The courage to wake every morning and face the reality that maybe, just maybe, there was a way to win.

As long as the Goblin King did not fall.

Hope had forced him to become ruthless. When he had finally realized what she could truly be - not dragon, no, he had not expected that - but Fire and powerful if he found the courage to risk the Labyrinth, he had seen two futures for her. Something had died in him the day she walked the Labyrinth and he made the choice for them both. Jareth had been balanced between two possible futures even as she had been and the gentle courtier he might have become, the man who might have preferred another choice, had lost that future forever.

Jareth might love poetry, but he would never be a poet.

He might sing with a haunting accuracy and power, but he would never be a bard.

He might build fountains for his goblins, but he would ride the edges of Despair and he would never see those sparkling rainbows with the innocence he had once possessed. Beauty yes, but bittersweet for he would always see what could be lost if they failed.

There had been moments in the past when she mourned the woman she might have been. The artistic, sensitive, passionately dramatic woman who applied stage make-up with an expert hand, had female friends to laugh over the antics of the men in their lives, and gasped in horror and outrage when she read the daily news. Jareth's choices had created a woman who had nearly lost everything when she spoke the wrong words in anger...then spoke the right ones in ignorance of larger plans.

She had lost her understanding of the people around her. The boys - and then the men - were missing something she could not name and the women weren't any more comfortable. Sarah had never figured out if it was because she had stopped playing by the rules, or if she just hadn't gotten the secret passwords everyone else seemed to have.

Jareth would understand some of the horrors people tried to hide with fire. The dirty little secrets an accidental fire could bring to light. The fact that, sometimes, she risked her life for people who were not worthy of the potential sacrifice.

Then there were the lives she had not been able to save. The broken dreams because some temperamental loser felt the world owed him a living and felt fully justified in setting a fire that took away a livelihood, a business, blood and sweat and tears that he had not earned but by god, he had the right to take away from someone else.

The dogs, the cats, the children, the men, the women, the burnt and sodden photographs on a blackened bedroom floor. Good luck. Bad luck. No luck at all. Accidents. Arson. Negligence and gods-be-damned ignorance that was the next best thing to stupidity. Toasters used under a cupboard. BBQ tanks stored in a basement. Oily rags in a pile in the garage. And on top of it all, the knowledge that what she was searching for was not to be found in the heart of the fire.

If she had still clung to a lingering resentment for his choices, it was burnt away in that searing moment of truth. Grief too, for the woman she could have been, was released without regret. The Sarah Williams she could have been would never have understood the man who watched her with pain and fear twisting in his eyes. Oh, she would have tried. She might even have wanted to comfort him if he had asked, but the Jareth he had become would never ask. She couldn't help but think the man he was now would have frightened the Sarah she could have been.

"You're what I was looking for," she had said softly.

Truth, then. Stark and plain. She had a life worth living and a world worth dying to defend. She gazed on the sharpened edges of his inner self and saw beauty and purpose. Not the pretty pleasures of gemstone, but the painful solitude of the desert morning, brutal in its grim determination to survive. She saw hard-won laughter, bitter tears, and unexpected compassion. She saw a future that would never be easy and would be surprised later at the hunger she felt as she reached to close her hands gently around it.

Only then did she think to wonder what he saw.

He never told her, but days later, the desperate joy that had cascaded along their combined magic as he buried his face in her hair still made her ache.

Oddly, while his mate's approval pleased him, it had been his Champion's judgment that brought him to his knees. It had shocked her. Terrified her, that she held such unlooked-for power over him. And yet...

...she could have walked away from Jareth. He held only part of her heart. It was the Goblin King who owned her soul. It was frightening and raw and not all-together new. Satisfying in a strange and unfamiliar way. A reaffirmation of vows given in innocence now rewritten with full knowledge and understanding.

She was the Goblin Queen.

But she was first, foremost, and forevermore the Champion to the Goblin King.

The land shuddered gently beneath her feet, the intensity of her emotions drawing its interest. Reluctantly she forced herself to shift her focus, letting the violence of the memory bleed into the night. She had work to do and could not afford to let herself get distracted. Still, she let the thoughts fade with reluctance, her newly awakened hunger to explore the secret self of her Child of Air only slightly appeased by the memory.

She itched to thread her matrix through his own. To map the inner landscape he kept hidden, as if it were a physical thing she could trace with curious fingertips.

"Sarah?"

She flinched, then turned guiltily.

Shock held her immobile for a brief moment as she found herself staring blankly into her stepmother's uncertain eyes. With all the new people inundating the work area, Sarah had gotten used to ignoring new scents, but she was a bit disconcerted she had allowed anyone to get so close without realizing it. Her dragon instincts had clearly placed Karen in the safe category and forgotten about her, but Sarah would have preferred a little advanced warning.

Their last meeting had not ended well.

Karen teetered precariously on tasteful pumps and Sarah thought with annoyance that whoever had directed her here could at least have located a pair of rubber boots. Soot from the last burn off of the grass the Earth mages were using to leech the last of the toxins from the land mixed with raw earth and runoff to form an acidic mud that was going to eat the leather of her stepmother's shoes.

Karen shifted uneasily as Sarah contemplated her footwear and gestured a bit desperately.

"Your...Jareth said you would be here," she said awkwardly.

From the confused look in her eyes she was uncertain exactly where here was, although Sarah suspected that had more to do with the barren and scarred landscape than any teleportation tricks Jareth had pulled. Sarah could see a rental car parked under the overpass for the old railway that marked the edge of the Goblin Embassy.

"So it's his fault," she mumbled.

"For what?"Karen asked nervously.

Sarah sighed. "Your shoes."

Karen stared down at her feet with incomprehension.

Sarah chewed on her lip for a moment, then winced. She was going to regret this.

"Come on," she said abruptly, holding out her hand.

Karen's eyes widened and before Sarah could do more than realize she was staring at the bone-blades on Sarah's forearm, Karen had reached out carefully and grasped her hand. Sarah tightened her grip and with one more thought that she was really going to regret this, she led her stepmother through the shield.


	44. Chapter 44

Karen shrieked as she came face to face with a curious mere-dragon. He fluttered his wings with studied innocence and pretended the meeting was pure coincidence.

"Meet Blot,"Sarah said sourly. Then, in warning,"and his brothers Blight and Blemish."

Karen whimpered slightly as two more mere-dragons dashed toward them, jewel-toned wings arched high and glowing softly in the sunlight.

Her own personal mere-dragon was presently back in the Goblin Kingdom anxiously awaiting the hatching of his third brood of children. He had, however, generously directed his eldest sons to track her down and keep her company. She still wasn't exactly certain how they had known how to find her. Luckily they jumped the Barrier after Jareth threw the dome around the Embassy grounds.

Jareth had forcibly teleported them back to the Goblin Kingdom three times before admitting defeat. They ignored the Barrier as if it didn't exist and acted as if it were all a big game of hide and seek. At least they seemed willing to stay inside Embassy grounds. And the local rat population had all but disappeared.

Unlike goblins who tended to scream and run away, the children adored them. The parents were less thrilled. Sarah had seen more than one parent close his eyes and count backwards from one hundred when a child shrieked and ran past, a mere in snarling pursuit. On the upside, accidental magic that would have killed the family cat just caused the mere-dragon to sneeze.

"Sarah..."Karen said hesitantly," I'm sorry."

Sarah paused in her scratching of Blight's eye ridges and gave her stepmother a sidelong look. She could not interpret the look on Karen's face. To be honest, she wasn't sure how to interpret the expression that was probably on her own face.

"I..."Karen twisted her hands awkwardly. "We both said some things we didn't mean."

They had meant every word. That was why it had hurt so much.

"I know you would never hurt Toby," Karen said finally.

"Not intentionally, you mean,"Sarah heard herself say.

Karen flushed, but it was only partly embarrassment. "Well what did you expect? All I knew was that one day you were this normal teenager interested in make-up and boys. Then you weren't. I thought... "

Karen cut herself off abruptly.

Her stepmother avoided her curious look and stared across the blackened landscape, her mouth tightening. Sarah followed her gaze, then blinked as the familiar landscape seemed to leap out at her with startling focus. It was abruptly both unfamiliar and chaotic, with strange people and strange colors and for one dizzying moment, she felt disconnected. As if she had taken a half step back from reality and stood outside her own life, peering in.

Sarah had seen only the possibilities ahead of her. Now, looking at it through her stepmother's eyes, she saw bleak and barren soil surrounded by gray skies and rock. Industrial plants squatted black and sullen against the skyline while gulls shrieked and fought over a half-acre of garbage the trucks had dumped that morning. Eventually, the trucks would be able to back up to a large shaft and empty the garbage into a large underground cavern. The dwarves were sketching plans for a series of interconnected caves where the garbage could be safely recycled into component elements, but before they could begin, the Embassy had to sink its roots first.

For the next few weeks, it was an eyesore she couldn't explain.

"I told myself I'd kill him if I ever found out who he was."

Err...what?

Sarah stared blankly at Karen, trying to process what she had just said.

Karen turned to face her, face tight and eyes hard. "I even had it all planned."

The image of her stepmother facing Jareth with a gun in her hand should have been funny. But it wasn't.

"Karen..."

"Your eyes were so disdainful, when you looked at the boys. And the men..." Karen grimaced as Sarah stared at her with dawning horror. "It just about killed me to see the way you started watching the men. I thought you had been ..."

Sarah raised both hands and scrubbed them wearily across her face, knowing exactly what her stepmother had thought.

"Jareth never touched me."

Not that way at least. But Sarah wasn't certain what to say. He might not be guilty of that particular crime, but he hadn't been innocent either. Beneath the pretty costumes and polite distance, there had been a leashed sensuality she had understood just enough to fear. She certainly hadn't understood the potential starting to flower within herself.

"Then what the hell did he do, Sarah? Because it was contempt I saw. And hatred. Jesus, Sarah. You hated them. What did he do to make you hate them so badly?"

Sarah's smile twisted slightly. "He offered me my dreams."

Then took them away.

Karen looked at her with blank incomprehension.

It was strange, waiting for the anger. It may have finally released her, but she had lived with it for so long, she was almost afraid to test the wounds it had left behind. It had never been about what Jareth had done to her, it had been the possibilities implicit in that dance. The Labyrinth...

If he had never used the Mirror Blade, never looked at her with wants and needs a fifteen-year old couldn't answer, she likely would have left the Labyrinth a little older and a little wiser. The Goblin King would have become a footnote to her childhood, a warning to be absolutely certain she knew what she wanted before she articulated her desires. She hadn't meant for the goblins to take Toby, but she had meant the words. And something had been listening.

Words had power, once spoken. The power to wound or deceive. The power to motivate and cause things to happen. Words had a reality of their own, when wishes and wants were acknowledged. Pebbles creating ripples in the sea of perception. Change then, became inevitable. Action, the child of perception . But while words had the power to motivate action, the caster was powerless to control the shape of those actions once the stone had left the hand. The intent of the caster mattered little to the ripples.

Only the fact they had been thrown.

"I am a Child of Fire,"Sarah said slowly, and for the first time she was beginning to accept what that meant. "When they first told me, I thought that the Labyrinth made me this way. Shaped me into something different. But this is who I am. Take away the dragon, take away the magic, and it will still be what I am. And Jareth..." Sarah's mouth twisted ruefully as she used the right words with no hope they would be understood. "He's a Child of Air. "

Incomprehension gave way to anger.

"That doesn't explain anything,"Karen snapped.

"Unfortunately,"Sarah said softly,"It does."

Even now, she wasn't certain whether her early dreams had shaped the Labyrinth or whether the Labyrinth had shown her just enough of its true nature for her to sculpt puppets in the shape of Fireys and dolls with the face of the Goblin King. Even then, had some instinct, some knowledge, seeped through from the land? Because she had dreamed he loved her and that had not been written in the book. She had dreamed of kings and castles and happily ever after. It had taken her years to realize that she hadn't wanted the goblins to take Toby...

She had wanted Jareth to come for her.

To rescue her. To make everything terrible in her life go away. Instead, the reality he had shown her was that she had to save herself. And it had been a good lesson to learn. Would have been a good lesson, even if that had been all there had been. It would have hurt, to pack him away with her childhood dreams and her toys, but most of those dreams had never really been about Jareth anyway. She would have lost her imaginary Goblin King, but gained a new strength, a new understanding of herself in the process. She'd have mourned, but for childhood dreams, not a woman's desires.

Until the dance, her knowledge of sex had been as naive as it had been theoretical. The uncertainty over the changes in her body, the heady mix of shame and power that had been emerging as she realized the effect her new shape had on the boys around her. The anticipation of joining the adult world as well as the relief that came from knowing it wasn't time to cross that line...not quite yet.

That dance had shown her that the innocent power she held could be turned against her. Not in terms of physical violence, but in terms of being betrayed by her own needs. Her fatal flaw. That her need for adulation and approval and desire might lead her to sacrifice her own principals. Sacrifice Toby. All for the implied promises she had found in Jareth's arms.

It had been a sober warning.

It was hard to say now what had been the Mirror Blade, and what had been the Victorian morality play that was the Labyrinth peeking through the curtains. She suspected she was supposed to have recognized the knife-edge of her own sexuality. She was supposed to have been repulsed by the blatant and carnal appetites of the dancers around her. She was supposed to recognize the power that Jareth could hold over her - if she gave it to him. But...

But.

She would never know for certain.

And if that had been the only other lesson the Labyrinth had taught her, it still would not have been enough to earn her hatred. That had been reserved for something else. Something she hadn't truly understood until she stood with Jareth as they raised a dome of power over the Embassy. There had been no way for her to understand. No way for her to know. She wasn't even certain Jareth understood what she had lost to the Mirror Blade. He had been raised in a world of magic. He had always been able to put a name to the emptiness gnawing inside.

She hadn't even known she was grieving.

"The Mirror Blade is magic,"Sarah said, her throat tightening."It didn't care that I was a child. It didn't care that I didn't know what it meant to be a Child of Fire. It didn't care about anything other than the fact that I was Jareth's weakness and he was mine. To understand that, we had to truly see each other, and so it showed us. Everything we could possibly be to each other, reflected in a single dance. But I didn't know that. How could I possibly have known any of that? All I knew..." The pain in her chest increased and she sucked in several deep breaths as her throat seemed to constrict. "All I knew was that I did the right thing and part of me never stopped screaming."

"Sarah..."

She jerked around to see Jareth watching her warily from twenty feet away. Karen glared at him belligerently but was clearly at a loss as to what she wanted to say.

Jareth ducked his head and gave Sarah a sidelong look. "The land was concerned,"he said.

Guessing that was an explanation for his presence, Sarah nodded shortly. Jareth stepped forward cautiously, and while part of her rejoiced that he finally seemed to understand what his actions had cost her, another part hurt to see him so cautious with her. She watched as he acknowledged her stepmother with a stiff bow. From the set of his jaw he would have preferred to ignore her altogether, but even the Goblin King was not so foolish.

Karen just eyed him suspiciously.

Given that her stepmother was hardly one to keep silent when she had an opinion, Sarah decided it had to be the hair. Or the clothes.Jareth was wearing his dragon armour and while Sarah found it undeniably sexy, it also emphasized his alien features. No doubt Karen would have an opinion once she got over the shock.

Jareth stopped just beyond arm's reach. Sarah opened her mouth to ask him...something. She wasn't sure what. Inexplicably - especially given that both of them were wearing armour - she found herself taking the two quick steps needed to close the distance between them.Jareth froze as her arms tightened around him. The plate on his chest was hard against her cheek and his hair brushed her face as he tilted his head forward in concern.

"I don't want to want you this badly,"she heard herself say.

As strange as the physical impulse startled her, his reaction confused her further. Instead of pulling away, he sighed softly and relaxed. The tension drained from his frame and the hands that had been resting uncertainly against her back slid to a more secure grip. The muscles in his arms tightened, pulling her snugly against him, armour and all.

"It is the price we pay for the joy,"he said somberly. "It is the price of magic."

"The bitter truth,"she quoted, somewhat resentfully.

"My weakness,"Jareth agreed softly. Then he raised his hands to her face and tilted her jaw upwards. "And my strength,"he said fiercely. "Never think that it is solely because you are a Child of Fire. The Fire brings compatibility, yes. This we would have, regardless of personality. But it is your choices that earn my respect, your honour that brings you my sword, and your heart that wins you my love. Fire, alone, has little power over me."

She heard his voice in memory, and felt again the temptation he had offered.

"Ask me again,"she said quietly.

Jareth went still against her, and when she looked up at him, he seemed confused. But Sarah was listening to something deeper than memory. Something that had always known the words she should have spoken.

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to you..."

The Land shivered beneath her feet. Beneath the Land, she sensed the Labyrinth and Jareth's expression altered as it joined with the Land and reached for Despair. Something...unfolded. Knowledge and words. Ancient words, lost somewhere beyond time, beyond Despair. Something the Land had once known and was determined to know again. She sensed joy, and ruthless will, and a loneliness beyond human understanding.

These words, written in a child's book, had once meant something else entirely.

"...to claim what is mine by Law."

Jareth's eyes were wide and gold and his fingers trembled against her face as the full power of the Labyrinth swept through them. Joyous, triumphant, and awake.

Sarah didn't recognize her own voice when it emerged.

"Ask, Goblin King,"the Land demanded.

Jareth swallowed sharply, and feathers shivered their way through his hair. But it wasn't fear, and there was no hesitation in his face when he met silvered eyes with his own.

"Child of Fire,"he said quietly,"I offer you Air. Champion, I offer you a King. Your Kingdom to mine, Land and Crown together, equal and as great. Sarah..."he hesitated, and when he spoke again, his voice was rough,"stay with me, shield and sword, no rule between us, no Law but love."

For the first time in over a decade, she truly felt as if she smiled. She stared into alien features and grinned a dragon's toothy triumph. Her hands reached to claim her prize and she wasn't letting go. Ever. Nor did Jareth seem inclined to protest the claiming. His feral gaze was demanding as he waited for her to respond, and the Land had always known her answer.

"Yes," she said.

And even Despair smiled.


End file.
